Contribution to knowledge of the Trichoptera of northwestern Algeria: New species records for the Algerian fauna and taxonomic remarks for the Maghreb fauna

Abstract

The caddisfly fauna of Algeria is far from complete. In this study, we present data from Trichoptera sampling in northwestern Algeria (Tafna and Ghazouana River basins) during 2014–2019, enhancing knowledge of this group in the country. We were able to identify 30 species and 17 genera in the study area. Among the listed taxa, five species (Hydroptila fortunata, Ecnomus deceptor, Tinodes waeneri, Limnephilus lunatus, Setodes argentipunctellus,) are new records for Algeria. An updated species checklist of Algerian Trichoptera includes 63 species. We also provide an update of the Maghreb checklist with comments on species distributions. The Maghrebian caddisfly checklist, which includes 44 Maghrebian endemic species, is still very poor in relation to that of neighboring Mediterranean geographical areas and countries, such as the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), France, or Italy.

Diversity, distribution, and conservation of the Trichoptera and their habitats in north‐eastern Algeria

“…Larvae were collected by kick‐sampling in all microhabitats using a dip net (30‐cm diameter; 500‐μm mesh size). Samples were preserved in 80% ethanol and then identified by one of the authors (BS) under a binocular microscope using various taxonomic keys (Zamora‐Muñoz, Alba‐Tercedor & Garcia de Jalon, 1995; Waringer & Graf, 2011; Bemmoussat‐Dekkak, Abdellaoui‐Hassaine & Zamora‐Muñoz (2021), Bemmoussat‐Dekkak et al, 2021; Bemmoussat‐Dekkak et al, 2021). Information about species/genus traits was gathered from Tachet et al (2010).…”

“…By contrast, during the 20th century there have been few and isolated contributions (Vaillant, 1953a; Vaillant, 1953b; Vaillant, 1954a; Vaillant, 1954b; Schmid, 1957; Malicky & Lounaci, 1987) on the fauna of Algerian caddisflies, following several pioneering studies (McLachlan, 1880; Morton, 1896; Morton, 1898; Ulmer, 1905; Navás, 1917; Lestage, 1925; Navás, 1928; Navás, 1932; Navás, 1936). The early 21st century witnessed a surge of publications on the caddisflies of Algeria (Arab et al, 2004; Sekhi et al, 2016; Sekhi, Malicky & Lounaci, 2019; Dambri et al, 2020; Samraoui et al, 2020; Bemmoussat‐Dekkak, Abdellaoui‐Hassaine & Zamora‐Muñoz, 2021; Bemmoussat‐Dekkak et al, 2021; Bemmoussat‐Dekkak et al, 2021; Khettar et al, 2022).…”