Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic paper
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New records of Paraleptophlebia werneri Ulmer, 1920 and P. strandii (Eaton, 1901) from Finland (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae)
Corresponding author:
Academic editor: Vladimir Blagoderov
Received: 31 Jul 2013 | Accepted: 12 Sep 2013 | Published: 16 Sep 2013
© 2013 Jukka Salmela, Eino Savolainen
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Salmela J, Savolainen E (2013) New records of Paraleptophlebia werneri Ulmer, 1920 and P. strandii (Eaton, 1901) from Finland (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae). Biodiversity Data Journal 1: e969. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.1.e969
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The mayfly species Paraleptophlebia werneri has been rediscovered from Finland. The species was classified as RE (regionally extinct) in the most recent national red-list assessment. The new locality is close to the Russian border in NE Lapland, Savukoski. Adult males were collected with a sweep net around a pond. Paraleptophlebia strandii is a rather poorly known but widespread Finnish species. The adults of this species occurred in great numbers in aapamires of central Lapland (Sodankylä). We hypothesize that these leptophlebid species are not dependent on running water but may instead thrive in small lentic water bodies.
Lapland, faunistics, mayflies, aapamires, ponds
The genus Paraleptophlebia Lestage (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae) consists of six European species (
Adult specimens of mayflies were collected
by using a sweep net in 2012 (Suppl. materials
The sampling locality was a pond in a rather open landscape (Fig.
All sampling localities are aapamires, i.e. fens that receive water and nutrient input from the surrounding mineral lands (versus raised bogs that only receive rain water). The mires are lying on bedrock which consists of calcareous or non-acidic rocks such as ultramafic volcanic rock, gabbro and schists (Geological Survey of Finland, http://en.gtk.fi/). The calcareous influence can be seen in the bryophyte flora, which includes species such as Campylium stellatum, Scorpidium revolvens, Tomentypnum nitens and Hamatocaulis vernicosus. The fens were characterized by wet flarks (i.e. inundated moss cover) and mud-bottom pools. The collecting sites were hard to access and difficult to walk on. There were no available mineral substrates for aquatic insects. However, due to their wetness and sloping profile (most notably in Sonniharju), there were some shallow surface flows on the fens.
Adults of P. strandii were very numerous at the collecting sites. Males formed huge swarms consisting of thousands of specimens. Swarming took place over narrow strings with sedge (Carex) shoots in the vicinity of the pools. Swarming was observed approximately within 0.6 and 2 m of height, in the afternoon during sunny weather. The minimum distance to the nearest stream was one kilometer.
Paraleptophlebia werneri is awestern Palaearctic species. Its range extends from the British Isles to the eastern side of Urals (Russia), and from northern Fennoscandia to the Alps (
Adult males of Paraleptophlebia werneri are easily distinguished from other European species due to their characteristic genitalia and the shape of their gonopods (Fig.
According to literature records the larvae of this species dwell in several kinds of water bodies.
The first Finnish locality, the now vanished Mutenianjoki river, was a less than 10 m in breadth, eutrophic, slow flowing river with a muddy and stony bed. During summer time the river usually had low water level. The water was neutral or alkaline (pH over 7) and turbid due to abundance of algae. The river harbored aquatic insect larvae in great numbers. Mauri Hirvenoja collected his sample from the slow flowing outlet of the river. Lake Sompiojärvi, the source of the river, was shallow but well oxygenated (M. Hirvenoja, personal communication).
According to
Paraleptophlebia strandii is a North Palaearctic species with a wide range encompassing Fennoscandia and Russian Far East (
The natural historyand occurrence of P. strandii are hitherto poorly known. There are scanty notes in the literature (see
In the present work were report P. strandii from boreal aapamires. These new observations are significant, because the notion of the species as a lotic one is challenged. Based on earlier records this species occurs in running water habitats with high oxygen levels. Our new records indicate that P. strandii is a common inhabitant of northern aapamires and that the species may be locally abundant. It may be assumed that P. strandii overwinters as an egg. Due to flowing of groundwater and thick snow cover, the flarks and pools in aapamires may retain some free water during snow covered periods (
Comments by Dr. Daniel Whitmore (Copenhagen) improved the text.
New records of four may fly species are given from Finnish Lapland