title: Diversity and distribution of the Caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) of Ecuador.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aquatic insects and other freshwater animals are some of the most threatened forms of life on Earth. Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are highly biodiverse in the Neotropics and occupy a wide variety of freshwater habitats. In Andean countries, including Ecuador, knowledge of the aquatic biota is limited, and there is a great need for baseline data on the species found in these countries. Here we present the first list of Trichoptera known from Ecuador, a country that harbors two global biodiversity "hotspots."
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a literature review of species previously reported from Ecuador and supplemented these data with material we collected during five recent field inventories from about 40 localities spanning both hotspots. Using species presence data for each Ecuadorian province, we calculated the CHAO 2 species estimator to obtain the minimum species richness for the country.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We recorded 310 species, including 48 new records from our own field inventories for the country. CHAO 2 calculations showed that only 54% of the species have been found. Hydroptilidae and Hydropsychidae were the most species rich families. We report the family Xiphocentronidae for the first time from Ecuador as well as several new records of genera from different families.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As in the neighboring Andean countries of Colombia and Peru, it is common to find undescribed species of caddisflies. There are vast areas of Ecuador and the northern Andes that are completely unexplored, and we expect that hundreds of new species are yet to be discovered.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ingenierías y Ciencias Agropecuarias, Ingeniería Ambiental/Unidad de Biotecnología y Medio Ambiente -BIOMA-, Universidad de las Americas , Campus Queri, Calle José Queri, Quito , Ecuador.
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ríos-Touma
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus , Saint Paul , MN , United States.
authors.forename: Ralph W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Holzenthal
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus , Saint Paul , MN , United States.
authors.forename: Jolanda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huisman
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus , Saint Paul , MN , United States.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus, Saint Paul, MN, United States; Departamento de Entomología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rázuri-Gonzales
keywords: Aquatic insects; Caddisflies; Ecuador; Neotropics; Species richness