Among mountain species of Heptageniidae from Central Asia, six species belonging to the taxa Cinygmula McDunnough 1933, Himalogena Kluge 2004 and Caucasiron Kluge 1997 have all claws of the winged stages (subimago and imago) pointed. In this area Cinygmula is represented by two species: C. hutchinsoni (Traver 1939) (with pointed claws) and C. joosti Braasch 1977 (with the more typical ephemerop...

T. SIVARUBAN, S. BARATHY, M. ARUNACHALAM, K. VENKATARAMAN & K.G. SIVARAMAKRISHNAN 1Department of Zoology, The American College (Autonomous), Madurai-625 002, India 2Department of Zoology, The Madura College (Autonomous), Madurai-625 011, India 3Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Sciences, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Alwarkurichi 627 412, India 4Department of Zoology, Madras Chris...

Diversity patterns of aquatic insects among sampling sites lying with!ç the unprotected and protected areas of Western Ghats were studied. This study primarily emphasizes whether anthropogenic influence is the prime cause for the presence of aquatic insects especially of pollution-sensitive organisms belonging to the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, or to factors such as the ph...

Invertebrates living in streams where predatory fish are present are often able to detect them through waterborne chemical cues and respond with behavioural changes that lower predation risk. We hypothesised that behavioural responses to a predatory fish (brown trout, Salmo trutta) would be stronger in grazing mayflies (Baetis sp. and Epeorus sp.) than in detritivorous caddisflies (Potamophylax...

Setose pads of aquatic Epeorus assimilis larvae are specialised structures located ventrally on the part of the gill lamella contacting the substrate and were suggested to have an attachment function in strong currents. In order to test the role of these setose pads in underwater attachment for the first time, we measured friction (shear) forces generated by the gill lamellae on solid substrate...

Although the differential responses of stream taxa to metal exposure have been exploited for bioassessment and monitoring, the mechanisms affecting these responses are not well understood. In this study, the subcellular partitioning of metals in operationally defined metal-sensitive and detoxified fractions were analyzed in five insect taxa. Samples were collected in two separate years along an...