A taxonomic study of the caddisfly oxyethira falcata morton, 1893(Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae) using genital morphology and DNA barcoding

Abstract

Taxonomists have had problems with the hydroptilid caddisfly, Oxyethirafalcata Morton, in the past. Four described taxa have been synonymized with O. falcata due to considerable intra-specific morphological variation of the male genitalia, and due to misinterpretation of some of the structures of these. In the present study specimens resembling morphologically O. boreella Svensson & Tjeder, one of the synonymized taxa, were compared with the true O.falcata using DNA barcoding and studying the male genitalia. Further, a molecular examination of all the Fennoscandian Oxyethira species were carried out, including the rare O. klingstedti Nybom, O. tamperensis Malicky, and O. ecornuta Morton. The results support keeping O. boreella as a synonym of O. falcata. In addition, the DNA analyses showed the presence of monophyletic groups for all of the studied Oxyethira species. © Entomologica Fennica. 5 December 2012.