On the Diplectroninae and Hydropsychinae (Trichoptera) of India, with related taxa. A tribute to Fernand Schmid

Abstract

The overall declining state of the western taxonomy is clearly documented by the present fate of the extremely high valued and huge unidentified caddisfly material collected in India and deposited in the Canadian National Collection. Due to the general lack of both financial and scientific resources in taxonomy, this huge collection remained almost untouched during the last 70 years after its collection. With a tribute to the collector, Fernand Schmid, the great caddisfly collector and taxonomist we have reconstructed his collecting activities of the five years in India by geolocalization and elaborated about ten percent of his undetermined Hydropsychidae in the Diplectroninae and Hydropsychinae subfamilies. Description of 145 new species from this small fragment of the huge unidentified collection demonstrates a pronounced underestimation of the biodiversity in general, routinely measured by gross phenomics. During this study we have reinstated the species status of seven taxa: Diplectrona kirimaduhela Sch