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Herein we describe five new species in the trichopteran family Glossosomatidae Wallengren (Insecta: Trichoptera) from Panama: Mortoniella calovebora Blahnik and Armitage, n. sp., M. yayas Blahnik and Armitage, n. sp., Protoptila inflata Blahnik and Armitage, n. sp., P. totumas Blahnik and Armitage, n. sp., and P. rambala Blahnik and Armitage, n. sp. Three of the species were collected as part of ongoing biological surveys of Panama’s national parks. We also record three new country records for Panama for this family: Culoptila costaricensis Flint, 1974, Mortoniella opinionis Blahnik and Holzenthal, 2008, and Protoptila spirifera Flint, 1974. Thirty-one species of glossosomatid caddisflies, nine of them endemic, are now known from Panama.
The Quebrada Rambala drainage is found immediately south and south-southeast of the town of Chiriqui Grande and east of Rambala on the Caribbean coast. It is one of two tributaries of the Rio Margarita watershed, a small, lowland drainage with elevations up to 180 m. During the 2014-2017 period, collections of caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera), employing both UV-light and Malaise traps, were made at two locations on Quebrada Rambala proper, and four locations on its unnamed tributary, all on a land area of approximately 1 ha. As a result, 127 species of caddisflies were identified, including 59 species of microcaddisflies. A non-parametric estimator of true, or potential, species richness based on rare species present for this watershed is 211 species. Previously, 19 new country records were published from this location. In this paper, we record three additional country records (Hydrobiosidae: Atopsyche minimajada Blahnik and Gottschalk; Hydroptilidae: Leucotrichia rhomba Thomson and Holzenthal and Oxyethira (Oxytrichia) apinolada Holzenthal and Harris) and describe and illustrate 19 new species of microcaddisflies (Alistotrichia bernali, Cerasmatrichia blahniki, Costatrichia santosi, Metrichia macdonaldi, M. thomsonae, M. thurmani, M. trebeki, Neotrichia carlsoni, N. rambala, N. serrata, N. starki, Ochrotrichia birdae, O. dewalti, O. kondratieffi, Oxyethira buenoi, Rhyacopsyche holzenthali, Tizatetrichia panamensis, Zumatrichia flinti, and Z. hazelae). Combined, this one small portion of the Quebrada Rambala has increased Panama’s caddisfly fauna by 41 species of microcaddisflies. Additionally, several new species of macrocaddisflies await description. Finally, we add one new genus to Panama’s fauna (Hydroptilidae: Tizatetrichia Harris, Flint, and Holzenthal). With the publication of these new taxa, Panama’s caddisfly fauna now includes 403 species in 15 families and 53 genera. We also suggest that multiple collections over time for all stream orders, employing several collection methods, are required in order to better estimate species richness within a drainage.
There are 214 species of the suborder Tipulomorpha (Diptera) known from Panama. Of these, 162 species were described by the noted American entomologist, Charles Paul Alexander, from Panama during the period from 1912 through 1979. Panama hosts two of the four families found within the Tipulomorpha: Limoniidae (197 species) and Tipulidae (17 species). We have records of only three species from multiple provinces (n = 2) within Panama and 211 species from just one province. The vast majority of the latter are known from a single location within their respective provinces. There are 142 endemic species (66.4%) included in Panama’s Tipulomorpha fauna, with the remainder being found elsewhere in South America (48 species), Central America (44), Mexico (23 species), the Caribbean (14 species), and the United States (4 species). Whereas, this taxonomic group has benefited from collecting in the Canal Zone and the popular western highlands in Chiriqui Province, we know little or nothing of the distribution of species within the country, their natural history, or their relationship to water quality.
Herein we describe three new species of Smicridea McLachlan (S. (S.) lata, S. (S.) spatulata, and S. (S.) dividua) from Panama in the nigripennis species group (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). The nigripennis species group is characterized by having a rather complex phallic apparatus, open anteroventrally and posterodorsally, with ventral and lateral portions produced into lobes, and with spines and other structures arising from the endothecal membranes. All three species resulted from a 2017 survey of Omar Torrijos and Santa Fe National Parks. Twenty-six species of Smicridea, nine of them endemic, are now known from Panama.