Prosopistomatidae are a monotypic mayfly family, comprising at present about 25 nominal species, distributed throughout the Palaearctic, Oriental, Australian and Afrotropical Realms, but missing from the Nearctic and Neotropics. Larvae of Prosopistoma pennigerum (the species name ’pennigerum’ relating to the feather-like caudal filaments) had been discovered in 1762 by Étienne Louis Geoffroy in the neighbourhood of Paris and initially considered to represent a taxon related to Triops SCHRANK (Crustacea: Notostraca). Only in 1871, more than 100 years later, Émile Joly realized that the ‘binocle à queue en plumet’ was in fact a mayfly larva. Although recorded from various rivers throughout Europe in the past, nowadays most populations are considered lost or extinct. In 2006 the species was found in the Volga River, which represented the first record from the Russian Federation. On the basis of this material a detailed larval redescription of P. pennigerum is provided and discriminating characters and their variation are compared with previous descriptions and illustrations. The morphological description includes micrographs of relevant features, produced with special image processing software. Presumptive larval habitat requirements of P. pennigerum as observed at the R. Volga are summarized and discussed in comparison with earlier records.
The northern 'Waldviertel' (the southern part of the geographical region 'Bohemian Forest'), situated along the border with the Czech Republic, differs from all other Austrian ecoregions with respect to its climate, the geological and limnological situation. Studies of the Diptera family (fam. Culicidae) communities conducted in previous years showed that a greater part of the species are common in the alpine region or are distributed in northern Europe. The 2007/2008 investigation of Simuliidae larvae and pupae in several running water bodies of the northern Waldviertel was undertaken in order to verify whether the findings of the Culicidae studies hold true for Simuliidae. The early spring fauna of Simuliidae is dominated by Simulium rostratum and S. morsitans, whereas during the rest of the season mainly larvae and pupae of S. ornatum, S. reptans, S. (B.) erythrocephalum, S. (N.) vernum and S. (N.) carthusiense-Gr. were found. In early spring the collectors of samples were severely bitten by Simuliidae, mainly S. (W.) equinum and S. (B.) erythrocephalum. The current article discusses the morphological variety of Simuliidae (S. morsitans, S. curvistylus and S. vernum) larvae and pupae. A total of 15 Simuliidae species have been recorded, including the previously found samples.
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