The Trichoptera of Panama V. Descriptions of new species, new country records, and a synonymy

Abstract

The Río Chiriqui basin is one of 52 major watershed areas, or cuencas, in the Republic of Panama. It occurs in western Panama, discharges into the Pacific Ocean, and includes portions of Volcán Barú on its northern extent. The Río Caldera occupies the northernmost subbasin of this basin. Two of its tributaries, Quebrada Grande and Quebrada Jaramillo, occur in close proximity and on opposite sides, and have different recent geologic histories and current land use patterns. During the course of investigating the caddisfly fauna of these two drainages, three new species of the microcaddisfly genus Neotrichia Morton (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae) were identified: N. collierorum and N. anzuelo from Quebrada Jaramillo and N. tatianae from Quebrada Grande. These are described and figured herein. We also add one new genus (Rhyacopsyche Mueller) and five new country records (Hydroptila paschia Mosely, Metrichia ancora Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, Ochrotrichia jolandae Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, Rhyacopsyche obliqua Flint, and Chimarra (Curgia) maritza Flint) for Panama. Finally, we designate Ochrotrichia abrelata Harris and Armitage, 2015 as a junior synonym of Ochrotrichia jolandae Bueno-Soria and Holzenthal, 2008. This synonymy and the newly recorded species and country records increase Panama’s known trichopteran fauna to 350 species, distributed among 15 families and 52 genera.