Ecologica Montenegrina 31: 28-34 (2020) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em http://dx.doi.org/10.37828/em.2020.31.6

First record of Rhyacophila pubescens Pictet, 1834 (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae) in the Republic of North with notes on its ecology and distribution

VALENTINA SLAVEVSKA - STAMENKOVIĆ1*, JELENA HINIĆ1, IOANNIS KARAOUZAS2, HALIL IBRAHIMI3, DANIJELA MITIĆ - KOPANJA1 & ASTRIT BILALLI4

1 Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Republic of . E-mails:[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. 2 Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece. E-mail:[email protected] 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Prishtina, Kosovo. E-mail: [email protected] 4Faculty of Agribusiness, University of Peja “Haxhi Zeka”, “UÇK” street, 30 000 Pejë, Republic of Kosovo. E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]

Received 24 April 2020 │ Accepted by V. Pešić: 7 May 2020 │ Published online 9 May 2020.

Abstract The caddisfly species Rhyacophila pubescens Pictet, 1834 is reported from R. North Macedonia for the first time. Our investigations showed the presence of this species at only one locality at Osogovo Mountain, above the Sasa mine. R. pubescens is commonly distributed in Central Europe but has been rarely found in the southeastern parts of the continent. This record marks the southernmost occurrence of this species in the Balkan Peninsula and increases the number of Rhyacophila species of R. North Macedonia to seventeen. The results obtained in our study a) provide information on the distribution of R. pubescens in the Balkan Peninsula; b) comment on the ecological preferences of the species and c) serve as a valuable source of information for further biodiversity and population studies.

Key words: caddisflies, distribution, rare species, Balkan Peninsula.

Introduction

The genus Rhyacophila Pictet, 1834 represents a taxonomic group of widely distributed caddisflies with high species diversity characterized by a high rate of endemism. The genus includes more than 774 described species (Holzenthal et al. 2015) which according to Morse et al. (2019) inhabit the west and east Palearctic, Nearctic and Oriental regions. However, due to the new species descriptions (González & Menéndez, 2010; Oláh, 2010; Kiss, 2011, 2013) this number is constantly increasing. Although a complete and comprehensive study of the caddisfly fauna in the Republic of North Macedonia has not been conducted till present, some authors such as Radovanović (1942, 1943, 1953),

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Botosaneanui (1960), Pavlovski (1984), Arsov (1991), Kumanski (1997), Kovachev et al. (1999), Memeti & Janeva (1999), Oláh (2010), Oláh & Kovács (2013), Oláh & Kovács (2014), Kučinić et al. (2016), Bilalli et al. (2018) and Bilalli et al. (2019) significantly contributed to the knowledge of the family Rhyacophilidae in the country. According to these investigations, there are sixteen species from the genus Rhyacophila in R. North Macedonia; Rhyacophila balcanica Radovanović, 1953, Rhyacophila fischeri Botosaneanu, 1957, Rhyacophila loxias Schmid, 1970, Rhyacophila obtusa Klapalek, 1894 and Rhyacophila trescavicensis Botosaneanu, 1960 are Balkan endemics, while Rhyacophila armeniaca Guérin-Méneville, 1843 and Rhyacophila palmeni McLachlan, 1879 are sub-endemics and Rhyacophila liutika, Oláh, 2010 is a stenoendemic species. All eight Balkan endemics along with the rest of the species within this genus have significantly narrow distribution span within R. North Macedonia. With populations often limited to only two or three regions or a single mountain range, these species are considered rare in the country (Hinić and Slavevska - Stamenković, unpublished data). In this study, we report the first record of Rhyacophila pubescens Pictet, 1834 in R. North Macedonia, providing evidence that the range of this species may be broader than it was expected. Additionally, the results presented in this study give new information on the ecological preferences of the species. Finally, we hope that our results will serve as a valuable source of information for further biodiversity, conservation, and phylogeographic studies.

Materials and Methods

Study area The sampling site is located on Osogovo Mountains (42.1216881, 22.496956) in the northeastern part of Republic of the North Macedonia (Figure 1a) at approximately 1281 m above sea level. It presents a small and shallow stream created by the surplus water draining from a forest peat bog, near Kamenicka Reka River, in the close surrounding of the mine “Sasa”. The streambed is very narrow, consists mainly coarse gravel and hand-sized cobbles covered with moss, and are moderately shaded by nearby vegetation (Figure 1b). Besides, geology (lithology) of the Osogovo Mountains is relatively homogenous and it is generally represented by granitic rocks (Milevski, 2008).

Figure 1. a) Map of the sampling locality; b) Photo of the sampling locality.

Data sampling and processing Caddisfly larvae were collected by handpicking by the first author in August 2018. The specimens were preserved in 96% ethanol and transported to the Laboratory of Invertebrates at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in for further analysis. Larvae were identified under Nikon SMZ 745 stereomicroscope, using proper identification keys (Coppa et al. 2012; Waringer and Graf, 2013) and deposited in the Macedonian National Collection of Invertebrates (MNCI).

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FIRST RECORD OF RHYACOPHILA PUBESCENS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Results and discussion

During the intensive hydrobiological research on Osogovo Mountain (R. North Macedonia), three larval specimens of Rhyacophila pubescens were collected from a small and shallow stream created by the surplus water draining from a forest peat bog. R. pubescens along with another 18 species of the genus belong to the Rhyacophila tristis group (Malicky, 2004; Balint et al. 2008, 2009), which according to Schmid (1970) presents a group within the family Rhyacophilidae classified in the branch “invaria”. R. pubescens populations are widely distributed in Europe (Coppa et al., 2012) and the larva of the species is well known (Buholzer, 1978; Pitsch, 1993; Waringer and Graf, 1997). Morphological characteristics typical for the tristis species group are: lack of abdomen gills, anal proleg without apicodorsal spur, free basoventral hook and anal claw without ventral teeth. However, R. pubescens can be easily recognized by its nearly parallel-sided head, its smooth and flat ventral surface at lateral view (Fig. 2), and the very short basoventral hook (Fig. 3).

Figure 2. Head of R. pubescens at dorsal (upper photos) and ventral (lower photos) view.

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Figure 3. Rhyacophila pubescens: proleg with a short basoventral hook.

During this research, R. pubescens was recorded for the first time in Republic of North Macedonia which increases the number of Rhyacophila species in the country to seventeen. The species is widely distributed in Central Europe, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Corsica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland (Engelhardt 2009; Engelhardt et al. 2011; Marković et al. 2012). The detection of the species in Republic of North Macedonia presents its most southward record, thus, its distribution range is widened towards South Europe. Since R. pubescens has already been noted in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Fauna Europaea 2020) and Serbia (Marković et al. 2012), the registration of the species in R. North Macedonia contribute to the better knowledge of its distribution range in the Balkan Peninsula. This clearly indicates towards the possibility that this species is also present in the rest of the countries on the Balkan, but its specific habitats haven’t been detailly investigated yet. Additionally, the analyses of the distribution pattern of R. pubescens based on all published records (e.g. Engelhardt 2009; Engelhardt et al. 2011; Marković et al. 2012; Graf et al. 2008) showed that the species was observed in the waters of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th , and the 11th ecoregion. Therefore, the occurrence of the species in the north-eastern part of R. North Macedonia means that this species’ populations are present in the 7th ecoregion (Eastern Balkan) as well. Regarding ecological preferences, larvae of R. pubescens are strictly bound to the eucrenal, hypocrenal and epirithral and probably are not able to use lower stream zones to disperse in a watershed, so dispersal is entirely restricted to the adult stage (Graf et al. 2008). The altitude where larvae of this species were found during our research is within the elevation boundaries suitable for this species (Graf et al. 2008), although Engelhardt (2009) has collected it at much lower altitudes (180 – 623 m asl). In accordance with the reported microhabitat preferences of R. pubescens for micro- and mesolithal (Graf et al. 2008) larvae were collected in stream where the substrate is dominated by coarse gravel and hand-sized cobbles. Furthermore, low numbers of larvae specimens were collected in the current study which corresponds with the results of Engelhardt (2009), where population sizes of R. pubescens are usually not high. Most possibly, the answer lays in the feeding behavior of the genus since almost all Rhyacophila are predators and they are not as numerous as phytophagous benthic organisms. Although some studies have shown that R. pubescens inhabits only calcareous water such as tufa streams (Engelhardt, 2009; Engelhardt et al. 2011) and fens (Petruželová et al. 2019), the results obtained during our research confirmed that populations of this species can also be present in streams draining from acidic peat bogs on granitic areas. Very likely, the species is bound to isolated habitat islands like peat bogs, fens and tufa streams and therefore it is not distributed evenly throughout its distribution range. Since Engelhardt et al. (2009) already discussed the postglacial (re-)colonization of Central Europe from a refugial source in the calcareous mountain ranges of Italy or Southern France, where R. pubescens still occurs today,

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FIRST RECORD OF RHYACOPHILA PUBESCENS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA the finding of the species on Osogovo Mountain indicates that streams draining from peat bogs as well as tufa streams, and fens can also be refugial sources. Due to the specific environmental conditions, these extreme habitats (Buczyńska and Buczyński, 2019) are not suitable for most species (Engelhardt, 2009; Petruželová et al. 2019) and probably provide shelters only for species with high adaptation capacities which will ensure them proper competitive advantage versus other competitors. Thus, it is possible that during the postglacial period R. pubescens populations preferred refugial areas with low level of inter- and intraspecific competition which determined their distribution. Finally, although R. pubescens was considered to only occur in calcareous streams with lime precipitation (Haase 1998; Engelhardt, 2009), our results show that the chosen refugial areas where competition is reduced rather than the substrate play the main role in this species distribution. According Engelhardt et al. (2011) the presence of the caddisfly R. pubescens is determined by the well conserved microhabitats characterised by stable environmental conditions, mainly permanent waterflow and specific physico-chemical characteristics, so the possible negative anthropogenic impact presented with the mining activity in the mine “Sasa” marks the necessity of the employment of high-level conservation measures towards this caddisfly species as well as its habitat.

Conclusion

The results presented in our study add another rare species to the unique caddisfly fauna in R. North Macedonia and highlight the importance of the small streams draining from peat bogs as suitable microhabitats for maintaining good populations for a variety of species with conservational importance. R. pubescens is known to be a species with rare populations and restrictions regarding their distribution, so activities towards the estimation of population status must be undertaken as soon as possible. Such activity was undertaken in Austria, where the species is listed as Endangered (EN) on the List of threatened caddisfly species (Scheder & Gumpinger, 2013). There are also initiatives for generating IUCN Red Lists of Threatened caddisfly species in Europe (Schmidt–Kloiber et al. 2017) that might support policy decisions regarding protected regions and freshwater key biodiversity, so the information about the distribution of a species as R. pubescens present in this paper, can be a valuable source of information.

Acknowledgements This study was conducted as part of the process for designation of protected area at Osogovo Mountains lead by Macedonian Ecological Society, in the scope of Nature Conservation Program in the Republic of North Macedonia. The Nature Conservation Program in R. North Macedonia is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), intended to assist the R. North Macedonia in the conservation of its outstanding biodiversity and natural ecosystems through the promotion of their sustainable use and management.

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