Phylogeography of High Mountain Caddisflies (Trichoptera) in Asias Subtropical Mountains

• Main Author: Deng, Xiling
• Other Authors: Pauls, Steffen
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: caddisfly; mountain biodiversity; Tibeto-Himalayan Region; Phylogeography; genomics; Next Generation Sequencing; evolution; ddc:570; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/19033; https://doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-18394

As one of the most prominent mountain systems on Earth, the Tibeto-Himalayan Region (THR), is not only famous for its geographic and climatic influence at a global scale but is also well-known for harboring high levels of biodiversity and it presently comprises two global biodiversity hotspots. To explain the formation of the rich biodiversity in this area, the “Mountain-Geobiodiversity Hypothesis (MGH)” proposes that the present-day montane biodiversity patterns are derived from a combination of geology, biology, and climate change. However, validations and refinements of the hypothesis for a broader taxonomic spectrum are missing, particularly from animals. Trichoptera, colloquially known as “caddisflies”, is the largest order of primary aquatic insects. Caddisflies occur on all continents except Antarctica and have adapted to virtually all forms of freshwater ecosystems, including high-altitude streams, rivers, and lakes. Caddisflies of the genus Himalopsyche (Rhyacophilidae) are mainly distributed in the subtropical mountains of central and eastern Asia. Currently, there are 56 named species within this genus: Twenty-three occur in the Himalayas, 34 in the Hengduan Mountains, and four species are distributed in both mountain systems. In addition, several species also occur in far east Asia and Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Japan, and one species inhabits North America. Hence, the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains are the centers of diversity for this caddisfly group. The phylogenetic relationships of the genus Himalopsyche were recently resolved with traditional sequencing technology and morphology, but ambiguity remains about the shallow phylogeny of several species complexes. Also, studies of intraspecific variation and population genetics are hitherto lacking. Their high level of species diversity in subtropical mountains and the available knowledge of their phylogenetics and ecology make Himalopsyche a good model to study the formation of biodiversity of aquatic insects in these high mountain ...