Potamophylax humoinsapiens sp. n. (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae), a new species from the Sharr Mountains, Republic of Kosovo

Abstract

The Sharr Mountains are one of the most important hotspots of terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity in the Balkan Peninsula, with many endemic and rare species. The caddisfly studies in this area increased during the past years, although insufficiently investigated areas still remain. In this paper, we describe a new species, Potamophylax humoinsapiens sp. n. from the Sharr Mountains in the Republic of Kosovo, which is morphologically closest to Potamophylax idliri Ibrahimi, Bilalli & Kučinić, 2022 and Potamophylax juliani Kumanski, 1999. The males of the new species differ from all known species of the Potamophylax winneguthi Species Group by their uniquely-shaped parameres, which are long, bulbous in their basal half and thin in the remaining length, with a bunch of very thin and long, hair-like spines, grouped uniformly at the apex. The new species further differs from its most similar congeners by its very wide distance between the dorsal and ventral edges of the apical part of inferior appendages in lateral view. The new species was found at three localities from 1416 to 1505 m a.s.l. Similar to the other species of the Potamophylax winneguthi Species Group, which have very narrow distribution areas, we posit that Potamophylax humoinsapiens sp. n. is a microendemic of the Sharr Mountains. The new species is the second known caddisfly species occurring only in the Kosovan part of the Sharr Mountains.

Potamophylax kosovaensis sp. nov. (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae), a new species of the Potamophylax winneguthi species cluster from the Ibër River Basin in Kosovo

“…This stems mostly from the lack of knowledge of taxonomy and ecology of freshwater insects in this area. In this context, the intensified investigations of caddisflies in the Balkan Peninsula throughout recent years have improved significantly the taxonomic knowledge of this aquatic insect order and has also led to the discovery of numerous new species, particularly in the mountainous regions, unveiling several microscale endemic species ( Ibrahimi et al 2015 , Ibrahimi et al 2016 , Oláh et al 2017 , Hinić et al 2020 , Ibrahimi et al 2021b , Oláh et al 2022 , Ibrahimi et al 2023 , Vitecek et al 2015 , Valladolid et al 2022 ). However, there are still poorly investigated areas, as observed with the recently identified species within the Potamophylax winneguthi species group in the Western Balkans.…”

“…However, there are still poorly investigated areas, as observed with the recently identified species within the Potamophylax winneguthi species group in the Western Balkans. In the span of a decade, the recognised species within this group have surged from three to eleven, a revelation derived from both morphological and molecular analyses ( Ibrahimi et al 2021b , Ibrahimi et al 2022 , Ibrahimi et al 2023 ).…”

“…This distinctive species group is exclusively localised to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia ( Kumanski and Malicky 1999 , Oláh and Kovács 2012 , Oláh and Kovacs 2014 , Ibrahimi and Bilalli 2021 , Ibrahimi et al 2021b , Ibrahimi et al 2022 , Ibrahimi et al 2023 ). All members of this group exhibit shared ecological features and distribution patterns, predominantly being found in spring areas and upstream segments of mountainous streams and rivers.…”

“…An intriguing aspect of these caddisflies is their reported sensitivity to habitat degradation, pollution and alterations in water regime and characteristics, particularly attributed to the presence of hydropower plants ( Ibrahimi et al 2016 , Ibrahimi et al 2024 ) and other human-induced deteriorations.…”

Shar Mountain National Park (R. North Macedonia) - shelter for caddisfly biodiversity in the country

“…One of them undoubtedly is the biodiversity hotspot from Western Balkans, Shar Mountain (Miho et al 2023). Bearing in mind that Shar Mountain in Kosovo is known to be inhabited by great number of rare caddisfly species (Ibrahimi et al 2016a(Ibrahimi et al , 2016bIbrahimi & Vehapi 2017;Ibrahimi et al 2019aIbrahimi et al , 2023, it is evident that this mountainous region holds significant importance in terms of caddisfly fauna. However, within the Macedonian part of this mountain, the Trichoptera fauna remains insufficiently known.…”