HR: 1330h
AN: NB33A-06    [Abstracts]
TI: Protoptila (Trichoptera) of Costa Rica and a Review of the Central American Fauna
AU: * Blahnik, R J
EM: blahn003@umn.edu
AF: University of Minnesota, 219 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 United States
AU: Holzenthal, R W
EM: holze001@umn.edu
AF: University of Minnesota, 219 Hodson Hall, 1980 Folwell Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 United States
AB: Protoptila is the most diverse of the genera in the subfamily Protoptilinae of the family Glossosomatidae, currently with 80 species, but many more from the Neotropics awaiting description. Fourteen species occur in the United States, only one of which is also known to occur in Mexico. This compares to 38 species and one subspecies (or about half of the total for the genus) currently known from Central America, mostly described in papers by Mosely and Flint. Although the majority of these, or some 27 species, occur in Mexico, this probably more closely reflects the historical intensity of collecting rather than the real diversity by region. In Costa Rica, 11 species are currently known, 8 of which are restricted in distribution to Costa Rica, or Costa Rica and Panama, and only 3 with distributions extending to Mexico. We are describing an additional 8 species from Costa Rica, bringing to 19 the number of species now known from the country. This represents an incredible diversity for such a small country and also a very high level of implied endemism, even considering the likelihood that some of the species will be found to have wider distributions.
DE: 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly