Faunistic Studies on Iberian Trichoptera: A Historical Survey and Present State of Knowledge

Abstract

For more than a century from 1865 to 1972 there were only fragmentary and intermittent studies of Iberian caddis flies by a few entomologists. From 1972, the state of knowledge has been notably improved by continuing contributions from several authors, adding 58 species to the Iberian Trichoptera catalogue. Those species incorporated in the Iberian fauna after Limnofauna Europaea (2nd edition 1978) are reviewed and the distribution of all species in the Iberian peninsula is analyzed. At present, we know 267 Iberian caddis fly species, distributed among 80 genera and 20 families. The Limnephilidae is dominant (56 spp.), followed by Leptoceridae (34 spp.) and Hydroptilidae (32 spp.). In the Iberian fauna, even a though species of wide European distribution are predominant, the endemic species are an important component (30%) and are of a great zoogeographical value.