Two new species of the genus Pseudostenophylax Martynov (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae) from the Indian Himalaya

Two new species of the genus Pseudostenophylax Martynov 1909 from the Indian Himalaya are described and illustrated. These include P. himachalica sp. n. from Sathrundi (Himachal Pradesh) and P. gulmargensis sp. n. from Gulmarg (Jammu & Kashmir), both belonging to the P. aniketos Group. With these two additions, Pseudostenophylax is now represented in India by 25 species.

Key words: systematics, caddisflies, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Pseudostenophylax aniketos Group, India Introduction Limnephilidae is the largest family in Infraorder Plenitentoria of Suborder Integripalpia, Order Trichoptera, with about 880 extant species in 99 extant genera (Holzenthal et al. 2011). At higher latitudes and elevations, it is the dominant group in much of the Northern Hemisphere. This family was established by Kolenati (1848) based on the type genus Limnephilus Leach 1815.

In India this family is represented by 6 genera and 35 species. These 6 genera are Astratodina Mosely 1936 (2 Indian species), Asynarchus McLachlan 1880 (1 Indian species), Pseudostenophylax Martynov 1909 (23 Indian species), Limnephilus Leach 1815 (2 Indian species), Phylostenax Mosely 1935 (1 Indian species) and Aplatyphylax Kimmins 1950 (6 Indian species). So far this family has not been reported from the higher ranges of the South Indian hills.

The genus Pseudostenophylax is represented by 72 species with an Oriental distribution centered around the Himalayas, southern China, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam (Morse 2012). Another 26 species occur in the East Palearctic Region (Morse 2012). Only 3 species are Nearctic.

Most species of Pseudostenophylax are found in high altitude, spring-fed streams. In India this genus is represented by 23 species. Of these, Schmid (1991) contributed 16 species; Martynov (1930) and Mosely (1936) 2 species each; and McLachlan (1878), Navás (1917) and Kimmins (1954) 1 species each.