Tyrrhenoleuctra tangerina ( Navás, 1922 ), Navas, 1922

Errochdi, Sanae, Alami, Majida El, Vinçon, Gilles, Abdaoui, Abdelali & Ghamizi, Mohamed, 2014, Contribution to the knowledge of Moroccan and Maghrebin stoneflies (Plecoptera), Zootaxa 3838 (1) : -

Tyrrhenoleuctra tangerina ( Navás, 1922)

Material examined. Rif: Tanger, Tahaddart v.: Assila r., Lâassel spr., 17 m, 26.04.2007, 3N (ERR).

Distribution ( Fig. 11 ). To characterize species of Tyrrhenoleuctra , molecular analyses by Fochetti et al. (2004, 2009), Fochetti & Tierno de Figueroa (2009) and Tierno de Figueroa & Fochetti (2014), have identified five different taxa. Among them, the only one reported with confidence from North Africa is T. tangerina . Since no morphological characters apparently are available to separate T. minuta from T. tangerina in the Maghreb, and since T. tangerina was described from Morocco ( Tanger), all the Maghrebin Tyrrhenoleuctra are presently considered to belong to this latter species, and further molecular analyses are needed to confirm this hypothesis ( Yasri-Cheboubi et al. 2013). Tyrrhenoleuctra tangerina occurs in central and western Maghreb, from Morocco to Tunisia, and in southern Spain ( Yasri & Lounaci 2011, Yasri-Cheboubi et al. 2013, Errochdi et al. 2014). In Morocco, it is known from the Rif ( Aubert 1961, Sánchez-Ortega & Azzouz 1998, Errochdi et al. 2014), Middle Atlas (Vinçon et al. 2014) and Central Plateau ( Meinander 1967, El Agbani et al. 1992).

Ecology. Larvae occur in small temporary streams at moderate altitudes (10–1400 m) that often dry up in summer and autumn corresponding to the “thermophile association” ( Aubert 1963b) (Tierno de Figueroa et al. 2003). The flight period is in winter and spring (II–VI).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Distribution of Leuctra maroccana, L. vaillanti and Tyrrhenoleuctra tangerina in the western Maghreb.