Plectrotarsidae
Ralph W. Holzenthal, Roger J. Blahnik, Aysha Prather, and Karl KjerThis tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.
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close boxIntroduction
This is a very small Australasian family of 3 genera and 5 species. The family was erected by Mosely (1953). At one time it included Kokiria, now in its own family. The family now consists of 2 monotypic genera, Liapota Neboiss and Nanoplectrus Neboiss, and Plectrotarsus Kolenati (3 species). The phylogenetic position of the family is equivocal (Gall & Wiggins 1999). In the most recent molecular hypothesis (Holzenthal et al. 2007), it emerged as sister to all other Plenitentoria, but not allied with the Phryganeidae or Phryganopsychidae as indicated in other studies (Frania & Wiggins 1997, Ivanov & Sukatcheva 2002, Wiggins 2004). Larval cases are constructed of plant pieces; the larvae are shredding detritivores, found in shallow flowing waters with abundant vegetation.References
Frania, H.E. & Wiggins, G.B. (1997) Analysis of morphological and behavioural evidence for the phylogeny and higher classification of Trichoptera (Insecta). Life Sciences Contributions, Royal Ontario Museum, 160, 1–67.
Gall, W.K. & Wiggins, G.B. (1999) Evidence bearing on a sister-group relationship between the families Phryganeidae and Plectrotarsidae (Trichoptera). In: Malicky, H. & Chantaramongkol, P. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Trichoptera. Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, pp. 107–116.
Holzenthal, R.W., Blahnik, R.J., Kjer, K.M. & Prather, A.P. (2007) An update on the phylogeny of caddisflies (Trichoptera). In: Bueno-Soria, J., Barba-Alvarez, R. & Armitage, B. (Eds.) Proceedings of the XIIth International Symposium on Trichoptera. The Caddis Press, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 143–153.
Ivanov, V.D. & Sukatcheva, I.D. (2002) Order Trichoptera Kirby, 1813. The caddisflies (=Phryganeida Latreille, 1810). In: Rasnitsyn, A.P. & Quicke, D.L.J. (Eds.) History of Insects. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 199–222.
Mosely, M.E. & Kimmins, D.E. (1953) The Trichoptera of Australia and New Zealand. British Museum (Natural History), London, 550 pp.
Wiggins, G.B. (2004) Caddisflies: the underwater architects. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 292 pp.
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
Page copyright © 2010 Ralph W. Holzenthal, Roger J. Blahnik, Aysha Prather, and Karl Kjer
Page: Tree of Life Plectrotarsidae. Authored by Ralph W. Holzenthal, Roger J. Blahnik, Aysha Prather, and Karl Kjer. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.
- 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. Plectrotarsidae. Version 20 July 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Plectrotarsidae/14603/2010.07.20 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/