Ecnomina zealandica

Ecnomina zealandica
Female holotype specimen held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum
Conservation status
Naturally Uncommon (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Trichoptera
Family:	Ecnomidae
Genus:	Ecnomina
Species:	E. zealandica
Binomial name
Ecnomina zealandica Wise, 1958

Ecnomina zealandica is a species of caddisfly belonging to the family Ecnomidae.[2] The species was first described by Keith Arthur John Wise in 1958,[2] and is endemic to New Zealand.[3]

Taxonomy

The species was identified by Wise in 1958, and is the only known member of the genus Ecnomina in New Zealand.[3] Because of this, observations of Ecnomina larvae in New Zealand are assumed to be Ecnomina zealandica.[4]

Description

Wise's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

HEAD fuscous; ANTENNAE ochraceous. THORAX fuscous, LEGS ochraceous. ANTERIOR WING light fuscous, fringe darker. VENATION. In anterior wing apical forks 3 and 4 sessile, the median cell extending between them. In posterior wing apical fork 3 about as long as its footstalk. Length of anterior wing, 3.5 mm (0.14 in).[3]

Wise noted that the species could be distinguished from Australian Ecnomina species by the apical forks 3 and 4 of the anterior wing being sessile and not stalked.[3] The larvae are 4.8 mm (0.19 in) in length.[4]

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to New Zealand.[3] While specimens have primarily been collected from the Auckland Region and Waikato Region, the species' range is likely wider.[4][5] It has been described as one of the rarest caddisflies in New Zealand,[6] with no observations of the adults of the species between the 1940s and 2002, when specimens began to be identified in Malaise traps.[7] Drinan et al. (2020) speculate that the species' rarity may point to a behavioural difference in the species, such as being diurnal, or not being attracted to ultraviolet light.[7]

Larvae of E. zealandica have been collected from Fissidens moss from stream banks.[4]

References

1. "Ecnomina zealandica Wise, 1958". new Zealand Threat Classification System. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
2. "Ecnomina zealandica". Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
3. Wise, K. A. J. (1958). "Trichoptera of New Zealand: I. A Catalogue of the Auckland Museum Collections with Descriptions of New Genera and New Species". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 5: 49–63. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42906091. OCLC 9987167351. Wikidata Q58676764.
4. Cowley, DR (1978). "Studies on the larvae of New Zealand Trichoptera". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 5 (4): 639–750. doi:10.1080/03014223.1978.10423816. ISSN 0301-4223.
5. Smith, Brian J; Collier, Kevin J; Halliday, N Jane (2002). "Composition and flight periodicity of adult caddisflies in New Zealand hill-country catchments of contrasting land use". New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 36 (4): 863–878. Bibcode:2002NZJMF..36..863S. doi:10.1080/00288330.2002.9517138. ISSN 0028-8330.
6. Collier, Kevin J. (1992). Freshwater macroinvertebrates of potential conservation interest (PDF) (Report). Wellington: Department of Conservation. ISBN 0-478-01427-9.
7. Tom J. Drinan; Natasha P. J. Grainger; Jon S. Harding; Kevin J. Collier; Brian J. Smith; Russell G. Death; Troy Makan; Jeremy R. Rolfe (7 July 2020). "Analysis of the conservation status of New Zealand freshwater invertebrates: temporal changes, knowledge gaps, impediments, and management implications". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 48 (1): 81–96. doi:10.1080/03014223.2020.1778044. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q110743134.