Capnopsis schilleri

Capnopsis schilleri (Rostock 1892)

Capnopsis schilleri is the single known representative of the genus. In Slovakia, the species is rare and endangered, and it is an infrequent and protected glacial relict throughout its range in Europe (Špaček et al. 1999). During the Pleistocene the species apparently spread westward from the Caucasus and Balkans, and from there to other, mainly northern European areas (Zwick 1984). The species is most abundant in Scandinavia where it occurs in a variety of sites from springs to large rivers (Lillehammer 1988; Malmqvist 1999). In 1953, Winkler collected the first two adults in the West Tatras Mountains in the Orava River basin (Winkler 1957), and in 1998 the first two larvae were collected in the Jelešna River, Orava basin (Krno 2002). After more than 50 years we unexpectedly discovered a single female adult and seven larvae in the lower Hron River basin during the spring of 2009 and 2010 (Fig. 6). The dark brown larvae were 4-6 mm in length with dense pilosity and long slender setae surrounding the eyes. The adults are the smallest stoneflies in Slovakia. Previously, C. schilleri was thought to be primarily in the Carpathicum ecoregion, but our results show it exceeds the southern Carpathicum border and extends into the Pannonicum ecoregion. The species was collected in small 3 rd order neovolcanic streams but older reports indicate the species has been collected in submontane to montane streams (Winkler 1957; Krno 2002). These data suggest the species is rhithral. Larvae have been collected with Rhabdiopteryx hamulata, Brachyptera risi (Morton 1896), B. seticornis (Klapálek 1902), Nemoura flexuosa Aubert 1949, N. cinerea (Retzius 1783), Protonemura praecox (Morton 1894) and Isoperla tripartita Illies 1954 during the spring months. Krno (2002) suggested the species distribution in Slovakia is limited by low water temperature, but our findings show the species also occurs in streams with high temperature regimes. The Podlužianka stream, had a measured summer maximum of 20 ° C. These observations are consistent with those of Špaček et al. (1999) and indicate the larvae of this species live in streams of different types and different abiotic factors. These factors, such as altitude, stream order, stream size, geological basin and average slope do not play an important role, although they are important in the distribution of other central European stoneflies (Soldán et al. 1998). The distribution of C. schilleri is thought to have been influenced by the last glaciation and during the Pleistocene it is thought to have been more widespread in Slovakia (Krno 2002) much as it presently is in Fennoscandinavia (Lillehammer 1988).

Material examined. Slovakia, Štiavnické vrchy Mts, Podlužianka:1. (N48°18´06.2´´ E18°37´32.9´´), 215 m a.s.l., 11.3.2009, 6L, coll. I. Krno, leg. et det. M. Žiak; 17.III.2010, 2L, 1♀ coll. I. Krno, leg. et det. M. Žiak.