Philorhethridae
Ralph W. Holzenthal, Roger J. Blahnik, Aysha Prather, and Karl Kjer
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close boxIntroduction
Philorheithridae is another small family of about 25 species that shows a trans-Antarctic distribution, with genera endemic to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, or southern Chile and adjacent Argentina. There are 8 genera, with about 2-6 species each, distributed as follows: southern Chile, Argentina (Mystacopsyche Schmid, Psilopsyche Ulmer), southeast Australia, Tasmania (Austrheithrus Mosely, Aphilorheithrus Mosely, Kosrheithrus Mosely, Ramirheithrus Neboiss, Tasmanthrus Mosely), and New Zealand (Philorheithrus Hare). The 2 earliest named genera, Psilopsyche Ulmer and Philorheithrus Hare, were originally described in the Odontoceridae and Sericostomatidae, respectively. Mosely (1936) established the family, with Philorheithrus as its type genus. The semi-raptorial morphology of the fore- and midlegs of the larvae reveal their predatory behavior. Larvae construct stout, tubular cases of sand grains and live on or in sandy bottom sediments in small to medium-sized rivers. In the males of most species, there is a pair of “pilifers:” digitate, semimembranous structures, emerging dorsad of the maxillary palps and held in front of the face. Some males have pectinate antennae. In general, these are rather large caddisflies, with wing lengths of about 1-1.5 cm. (From Holzenthal et al., 2007)References
Holzenthal R.W., Blahnik, R.J., Prather, A.L., and Kjer K.M. 2007. Order Trichoptera Kirby 1813 (Insecta), Caddisflies. In: Zhang, Z.-Q., and Shear, W.A. (Eds). 2007 Linneaus Tercentenary: Progress in Invertebrate Taxonomy. Zootaxa. 1668:639–698.
Mosely, M.E. (1936) Tasmanian Trichoptera or caddis-flies. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1936, 395–424.
About This Page
Ralph W. Holzenthal
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Roger J. Blahnik
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Aysha Prather
Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Karl Kjer
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Ralph W. Holzenthal at , Roger J. Blahnik at , Aysha Prather at , and Karl Kjer at
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- First online 17 July 2010
- Content changed 20 July 2010
Citing this page:
Holzenthal, Ralph W., Roger J. Blahnik, Aysha Prather, and Karl Kjer. 2010. Philorhethridae. Version 20 July 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Philorhethridae/14592/2010.07.20 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
