Philanisus plebeius
{{Short description|Species of caddisfly}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Philanisus plebeius 1217700.jpg
| image_caption =Observed at Anderson's Bay, Dunedin
| genus = Philanisus
| species = plebeius
| authority = Walker, 1852
| range_map =
| synonyms =
{{Specieslist
|Anomalostoma alloneura|Brauer, 1865
}}
| synonyms_ref =
}}
Philanisus plebeius is a species of marine caddisfly in the family Chathamiidae found in New Zealand and Australia. These insects have winged terrestrial adults, eggs are laid in starfish and aquatic larvae live in marine rock pools.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1852 from a single adult male specimen obtained by Dr. Sinclair from New Zealand.{{CiteQ|Q51454599|volume=1|pages=116}}{{BHL page|9997057}}{{Cite journal |last=McLachlan |first=R |date=1882 |title=On a Marine Caddis-fly (Philaniaus, Walker,= Anomalostoma, Brauer) from New Zealand |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/377090 |journal=The Journal of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology |volume=16 |issue=94 |pages=417–422|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1882.tb02386.x }} 'Plebeius' means common. Brauer described the same species in 1866 and pointed out the unusual maxillary palpi of males where the insertion of the third joint is well before the apex. F. W. Hutton discovered the larvae live in rock-pools in 1882.
Description
File:Philanisus plebeius 449053713.jpg
Walker in his original description described this species as follows:
{{Blockquote|Male. — Tawny, thinly clothed with tawny hairs : antennae testaceous, rather stout, slightly setaceous, much longer than the body : legs testaceous, long ; fore-tibiae without spurs ; hinder tibiae with two pairs of long spurs, one pair near the tips, the other at the tips : abdomen with two appendages at the tip : wings narrow ; fore-wings slightly gray, with pale brown marks or interrupted bands : hind-wings subhyaline. Length of the body {{frac|2|1|2}} — {{frac|2|3|4}} lines ; of the wings 7 — {{frac|8|1|2}} lines.}}
Biology
There are very few insects that live in the sea{{Citation |last1=Shaw |first1=J. |title=Osmotic and Ionic Regulation in Insects |date=1963 |volume=1 |pages=315–399 |editor-last=Beament |editor-first=J. W. L. |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0065280608601782 |access-date=2024-09-09 |publisher=Academic Press |doi=10.1016/s0065-2806(08)60178-2 |last2=Stobbart |first2=R. H. |series=Advances in Insect Physiology |isbn=978-0-12-024201-6 |editor2-last=Treherne |editor2-first=J. E. |editor3-last=Wigglesworth |editor3-first=V. B.|url-access=subscription }} but this caddisfly cannot survive in freshwater.{{Cite journal |last=Leader |first=John P. |date=1972 |title=Osmoregulation in the Larva of the Marine Caddis Fly, Philanisus Plebeius (Walk.) (Trichoptera) |url=https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/57/3/821/21898/Osmoregulation-in-the-Larva-of-the-Marine-Caddis |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |language=en |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=821–838 |doi=10.1242/jeb.57.3.821 |bibcode=1972JExpB..57..821L |issn=0022-0949|url-access=subscription }} Philanisus plebeius females lay eggs in starfish.{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=D. T. |last2=Lawson-Kerr |first2=C. |date=1977 |title=The Embryonic Development of the Marine Caddis Fly, Philanisus plebeius Walker (Trichoptera: Chathamidae) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1540693 |journal=Biological Bulletin |volume=153 |issue=1 |pages=98–105 |doi=10.2307/1540693 |jstor=1540693 |pmid=578118 |issn=0006-3185}} Eggs are found most of the year in the body cavity (coelom) of cushion star Patiriella regularis (NZ) and P. exigua (Australia).{{Cite journal |last1=Winterbourn |first1=M. J. |last2=Anderson |first2=N. H. |date=1980 |title=The life history of Philanisus plebeius Walker (Trichoptera: Chathamiidae), a caddisfly whose eggs were found in a starfish |url=https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1980.tb01151.x |journal=Ecological Entomology |language=en |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=293–304 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2311.1980.tb01151.x |bibcode=1980EcoEn...5..293W |issn=0307-6946|url-access=subscription }} Larvae live in tide pools and make a case from seaweed (e.g. Corallina, Zostera) and bits of sand or shell.{{Cite journal |last=Cowley |first=D.R. |date=1978 |title=Studies on the larvae of New Zealand Trichoptera |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03014223.1978.10423816 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=639–750 |doi=10.1080/03014223.1978.10423816 |issn=0301-4223}} Larvae go through 7 instars feeding on algae and detritus in tide pools.
Distribution
Philanisus plebeius is found throughout New Zealand coastal areas as well as on the coast of New South Wales in Australia.{{Cite journal |last=Riek |first=E. F. |date=January 1977 |title=The Marine Caddisfly Family Chathamiidae (Trichoptera) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1976.tb01724.x |journal=Australian Journal of Entomology |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=405–419 |doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.1976.tb01724.x |issn=1326-6756|url-access=subscription }}{{Taxonbar|from2=Q2644393}}