RESUMO
ABSTRACT Sixteen species of the microcaddisfly Ochrotrichia Mosely, 1934 (Hydroptilidae) have been recorded so far in Brazil, mainly distributed in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. In order to reduce the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls for the Ochrotrichia Brazilian fauna, we diagnose, describe, and illustrate three new species based on adult males from three protected and preserved areas of the Cerrado biome of Federal District (Central-West region), Minas Gerais (Southeast region) and Tocantins (North region) states; all of them named in honor of three great Brazilian entomologists viz., Ochrotrichia froehlichi sp. nov., Ochrotrichia machadoi sp. nov. and Ochrotrichia nessimiani sp. nov. They can be recognized mainly by the morphology of the tergum X, number, and position of the spine-like setae of the inferior appendages. This contribution represents the first record of Ochrotrichia for the Central-West region, increasing the number of species of this genus in Cerrado biome from one to four, and is the first report of a microcaddisfly for the Federal District. In addition, the genus is reported for the first time from Paraná, São Francisco, and Tocantins hydrographic basins. Finally, we provide a checklist of the Ochrotrichia species from Brazil.
RESUMO
ABSTRACT Insects are fundamental to biodiversity conservation in almost all ecosystems, and their population decline, and extinction directly result from environmental impacts. These facts are aggravated by the lack of knowledge of insect biodiversity, the so-called biodiversity deficits, especially the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls. In freshwater ecosystems, biodiversity loss is higher among aquatic insects, and caddisflies comprise one of the most vulnerable orders. In this way, research focusing on describing new caddisfly species and understanding their distribution ranges will increase knowledge of caddisfly biodiversity. In the past 14 years, the team from the Laboratório de Entomologia Aquática "Prof. Dr. Claudio Gilberto Froehlich" (LEAq, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil) and collaborators have been addressing these issues, resulting in 55 described species of caddisflies. Taxa in other insect orders have also received attention and an additional 16 species have been described (eight mayflies, four stoneflies, four neuropteran spongillaflies, and antlions). Here, eight caddisfly species are described and illustrated (Atopsyche froehlichi sp. nov., Austrotinodes zeferina sp. nov., Cernotina kariri sp. nov., Neoathripsodes froehlichi sp. nov., Notalina claudiofroehlichi sp. nov., Oecetis marcus sp. nov., Phylloicus froehlichi sp. nov., and Polycentropus claudioi sp. nov.), five of them in honor of LEAq's patron. In addition, new distributional data are presented for 10 known species. A checklist of the caddisfly fauna of Bahia state is also presented, with 138 species, around 75% and 30% of them recorded and described by the LEAq team, respectively. Currently, for caddisflies, Bahia is the fifth most species-rich state in Brazil, and the first in the Brazilian Northeast region.