Potamyia phaidra Malicky & Chantaramongkol 1997
Creators: name: Pandher, Manpreet Singh
name: Kaur, Simarjit
name: Garima, Deepti
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Trichoptera
Hydropsychidae
Potamyia
Potamyia phaidra

description: Potamyia phaidra Malicky & Chantaramongkol 1997, NEW RECORD for India
(Figs 13–20)
Potamyia phaidra Malicky & Chantaramongkol 1997 (in Malicky 1997: 1037, plate 7)
Potamyia trenhona Oláh & Barnard (in Oláh et al. 2006: 753, fig. 36), NEW SYNONYM
Diagnosis. Potamyia aureipennis (Ulmer 1930) is similar to P. yunnanica (Schmid 1959). Segment IX is longitudinally short dorsally in lateral view, tergum X in lateral view has its apex much curved dorsad, the apical hook reaching to the height of the setose area (superior or preanal appendages) in P. yunnanica. Whereas, in P. aureipennis segment IX is well developed dorsally in lateral view, tergum X has its apex curved but is broad and not reaching above half the height of the setose area (superior or preanal appendages) in lateral view. Further, variations are already reported in genera of Hydropsychinae for many species from this region.
Similarly, P. trenhona Oláh & Barnard 2006 from Vietnam, P. phaidra Malicky & Chantaramongkol 1997 from Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, and P. assamana Oláh & Schefter 2008 (in Oláh & Johanson 2008) from India appear to be variants of P. aureipennis. However, P. auripennis and P. phiadra are distinct species (Malicky personal communications). These differences are obvious in the male genitalia of these two species; the differences are small but constant in the shapes of tergum X and in the apical segments of the inferior appendages of these two species. The apex of tergum X varies in the formation of the hook: in P. auripennis the dorsal margin of tergum X appears to be rounded in lateral view, the apex of the hook is not recurved anterodorsad, the distal incision is almost concave in dorsal view; the apical segment of each inferior appendage has its mesal margin slightly bulging before the apex in ventral view. On the other hand, in P. phaidra the dorsal margin of tergum X in lateral view is quadrate, the apex of the hook is recurved more nearly anterodorsad, the distal incision is almost round in dorsal view; the apical segment of each inferior appendage has its mesal margin almost concave. Further, while describing P. trenhona, Oláh & Barnard (2006) wrote that this species is similar to P. phaidra but the spine-like process on the hook is small and caudally situated, its surface is much simpler and the stem of the phallic apparatus is not geniculate in P. phaidra (which is not visible in the illustrations by Oláh et al. 2006, page 770). These variations, apart from the modification caused by variable ecological conditions, are also subject to slight modifications in preparations and drawing techniques and especially in the preparations from the dry specimens (structures shrivel in dry-preserved specimens). So, P. trenhona is considered here a synonym of P. phaidra. Furthermore, P. assamana Oláh & Schefter (2008) from (Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh) may also be simply a variant of P. phaidra because it differs only in the deeper incision of tergum X in dorsal view. If these hypotheses are true, then this species could be widely distributed in the northeastern states of India.
Material examined. India: Meghalaya; Cherrapunji, 25°16’39.7”N, 91°43’35.3”E, 1500 m, 29.v.2011, 6 males, Pandher (NZC).
Distribution. India (Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh), Indonesia (Sumatra, Java), Thailand.
description: Published as part of Pandher, Manpreet Singh, Kaur, Simarjit & Garima, Deepti, 2021, New species and new records of Hydropsychinae (Insecta: Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) from India, pp. 364-376 in Zootaxa 4915 (3) on pages 371-375, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4915.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4456544