Abstract

MUNOZ-QUESADA, Fernando. El género Leptonema (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) en Costa Rica, con la descripción de una nueva especie. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 1999, vol.47, n.4, pp.959-1006. ISSN 0034-7744.

The genus Leptonema Guérin 1843 (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae: Macronematinae) is one of the best known and most easily recognized of the Neotropical caddisflies. In the New World, the genus is widely distributed from southern North America through Central and South America, including the Antilles, but excluding souther Chile and adjacent Argentina. The adults of Leptonema are large (10-40 mm) with light brown to light green translucent wings. Some species have small black or dark spots or patterns on the forewings. Larvae of Leptonema build refuges with small silken nets, and this way feed by filtering fine organic particles from the water. The refuges and nets are built with small gravel, sand, and silk. In 1914, Banks reported L. albovirens from Costa Rica, the first record of the genus for Costa Rica. In 1987, Flint et al. provided an exhaustive taxonomic review of the world species, and recognized 15 species groups, five of which were present in Costa Rica. In addition, they described 48 new species, four from Costa Rica, and reported five additional records. Holzenthal added six additional species records, and Muñoz-Q. described five new species, of these L. tapanti is the first species in the stigmosum Group defined by Flint et al. and present in the country. In total, 24 species of Leptonema have been previously recorded in Costa Rica. For this research, collections of Leptonema specimens in the University of Minnesota Insect Collection, St. Paul, MN and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. were examined. In this paper, one additional undescribed species from Costa Rica is diagnosed, described and illustrated: Leptonema tica. Diagnoses and illustrations of the male genitalia of the other species are presented. Figures of the larva and adult, as well as aspects of natural history of the genus are included. Finally, an identification key in English and Spanish is provided, together with distribution record maps of all species in Costa Rica are included.

Keywords : Leptonema; Trichoptera; caddisfly; new species; life stages; key; Neotropics.