Species composition and abundance of craneflies (Diptera: Tipulidae) in the highland lakes of Japan

Abstract

We evaluated the relative abundance of tipulids in the Nishina Three Lakes and Lake Suwa, Japan, by capturing adult flies with light traps set around the shores of the lakes. Of the 149 individuals collected, 49 species were identified, and we described 19 newly recorded genera around these lakes. We collected seven species of adults at Lake Suwa, 27 species at Lake Aoki, 19 species at Lake Nakatsuna, and 16 species at Lake Kizaki. The most abundant species were Antocha bifida, Gonomyia (Leiponeura) incompleta, and Gonomyia sp. However, the most abundant species of each lake differed. Only A. bifida was collected from all the lakes. We calculated the Shannon-Wiener diversity index to compare the tipulid fauna among the lakes. The diversity index was the highest at 4.24 in Lake Aoki (an oligotrophic lake) and the lowest at 2.81 in Lake Suwa (a hypereutrophic lake). These results suggest that the diversity and relative abundance of adult tipulid species may be useful biological indicators for water quality assessment.

Effects of land‐cover transitions on emerging aquatic insects and environmental characteristics of headwater streams in an agricultural catchment

“…In our study, some but not all results were consistent with this notion (e.g., patterns in NO 3 ‐N and PO 4 ‐P and Tipulidae flux density). Possible explanations for the observed patterns include enhanced (Broadmeadow & Nisbet, 2004; Lowrance et al, 1984) or reduced (Osborne & Kovacic, 1993; Sabater et al, 2000) uptake and retention of N and P, respectively; increased width in forests promoting in‐stream processing of N (Sweeney et al, 2004); and broad trophic breadth and tolerance to water quality of Tipulidae (Kimura, Mishima, & Hirabayashi, 2011). The patterns we observed, however, were variable among our study streams and would need to be further explored in order to formulate generalizable conclusions.…”