The first check list of caddisflies (Insecta, Trichoptera) of the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

In South-Eastern Europe the Balkan Peninsula represents one of the most interesting centres of biodiversity
for different animal groups, including Trichoptera. The Republic of Macedonia is located in the Western
Balkans, and harbours due to its geology highly diverse hydrological biotopes (rivers, streams, springs,
lakes), particularly in mountain areas. In the Republic of Macedonia there are 1,100 large sources of water.
The rivers flow into three different basins: the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.
This work presents the first check list of Trichoptera of Macedonia that has been made based on the faunal
data from literature, data from caddisflies collection of the Macedonium Museum of Natural History in
Skopje and data collected throughout seven years of our own research. We primarily investigated the northwestern
and south-western parts of Macedonia, with particular focus on the Mavrovo and Pelister National
parks. In this check list we included only data according of determinations of adults.
Apart from presenting the check list, we also present some interesting endemic and relict species from
Macedonian caddisflies fauna (e.g., Rhyacophila liutika, Agapetus rectigonopoda, Wormaldia kimminsi,
Phryganea ochrida, Drusus plicatus, D. macedonicus, D. vernonensis, Drusus sp.n., Chaetopteroides tunik,
Potamophylax lemezes, Rhadiocleptus alpestris macedonicus, Oecismus mucidus) and compared diversity
of caddislfy from Macedonia with other surroundings countries.