724040 6 NSOoRuTthHeEasAteSrTnE NRaNt uNrAalTisUt RNAoLteIsST Vol. 7, No. 4
A Revised Distribution of Hydropsyche carolina Banks
(Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) with a New Record from Tennessee
Rick D. Bivens1,*, Bart D. Carter1, and Carl E. Williams1
Abstract - Larvae of Hydropsyche carolina were collected from Doe Creek, Johnson County,
TN in 2005 during a qualitative benthic survey conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency. This finding represents a new distribution record for this species, and its first reported
collection in Tennessee. A revised distribution for H. carolina is presented.
Until recently, the known distribution of Hydropsyche carolina Banks had been
restricted to high elevation (≈1000 m) stream reaches in and around the mountains
of North Carolina and Georgia (Schuster and Etnier 1978). It had been so rarely collected
that Schuster and Etnier (1978) stated that little was actually known about its
distribution. Banks (1938) only lists the type locality as “from North Carolina.”
Other published distribution accounts for Hydropsyche carolina prior to 1980
include one location near Lakemont, GA (30 June 1939) and two from North Carolina.
The North Carolina collections include three separate collections from the
Cullasaja River, near Highlands, Macon County in 1976, and one collection from
the Oconaluftee River at Cherokee, Swain County, also in 1976 (Schuster and Etnier
1978).
Since 1980, it has been collected from three additional streams in Jackson and
Transylvania counties, NC and nine localities in northern Greenville, Oconee,
and Pickens counties, SC. Many of these were reported during the Lake Jocasee
catchment aquatic insect study in North and South Carolina (Floyd et al. 1997, Morse
et al. 1989). While more widely distributed than previously thought, it is still considered
fairly rare within its range.
We report herein the collection of four larval Hydropsyche carolina specimens
from the lower reach of Doe Creek along State Route 167, Johnson County, TN
(36.38279ºN, 81.95271ºW) on 22 April 2005. This finding represents a significant
range extension for this species, and its first reported collection in Tennessee.
Doe Creek is a spring-fed, fourth-order tributary to Roan Creek (Watauga Reservoir/
Watauga River) in the upland (Limestone Valley and Coves, sub-level IV Ecoregion
66f; Griffith et al. 1997) of the Blue Ridge Mountain ecoregion in northeastern
Tennessee. It fl ows through privately owned land that is mostly residential or used for
agricultural purposes. At the collection location, cobble and bedrock were the dominant
substrate components in riffl e areas, comprising about 70% of the substrate. Basic
water quality measurements on 22 April 2005 were: temperature = 16 °C, conductivity
= 97 μs/cm, and pH = 6.2. The stream has a mean width of about 14 m, and discharge
was calculated at 2.1 m3/s. Elevation was about 615 m (Carter et al. 2006).
Macroinvertebrates collected during a routine qualitative benthic survey from
this section of Doe Creek comprised 37 families representing 45 identified genera.
A total of 54 taxa was identified from the sample, of which 31 were from the
ecologically sensitive orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera. Mayfl
ies (Ephemeroptera) comprised 42.9% of the specimens collected. Caddisfl ies
(Trichoptera) (27.8%) and dipterans (12.4%) were the second and third most abundant
taxa, respectively. Stonefl ies (Plecoptera) accounted for 7.2% of the sample.
Other hydropsychid caddisfl ies collected with H. carolina included Ceratopsyche
bronta (Ross), C. sparna (Ross), and Cheumatopsyche spp.
Notes of the Southeastern Nat u ral ist, Issue 7/4, 2008
744
2008 Southeastern Naturalist Notes 745
The distinctive larva of H. carolina is easily recognized by the presence of a
wide arcuate carina on a black head capsule (Schuster and Etnier 1978). It shares
this similarity only with H. rotosa Ross, which keys to H. carolina in Schuster and
Etnier 1978. Hydropsyche carolina is distinguished from H. rotosa by the absence
of long, dense, silky setae on the posterior portion of the frontoclypeus (Etnier et
al. 1998). The Doe Creek specimens were verified with material housed at The
University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Two of the four specimens were deposited into
The University of Tennessee holdings (UT 4.896). The other two specimens were
deposited into the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) Region IV collection
(TWRA 5.279).
A revised distribution for H. carolina (Fig. 1) is presented, based on known
published accounts and collection records, and includes the new Tennessee record
reported here. The majority of the updated information is based on specimens housed
in the Clemson University Arthropod Collection (CUAC), Clemson, SC and from
localities reported in the Lake Jocassee catchment studies (Floyd et al. 1997, Morse
et al. 1989). Other collections holding H. carolina specimens include: the Illinois
Figure 1. Distribution of Hydropsyche carolina.
746 Southeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 7, No. 4
Natural History Survey (INHS); the National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian
Institution (USNM); and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT).
Records examined. We did not verify specimens from the collections reported
herein. However, we considered them valid based on the individual collectors and
those making determinations. Questionable records were excluded.
Georgia. Rabun County: Lakemont, GA., 30 June 1939, P.W. Fattig, 3 male, 5
female; INHS Collection.
North Carolina. Type locality, 1938, listed only as “from North Carolina”, N.
Banks, male holotype specimen, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) No.
22657. Jackson County: Whitewater Falls, 14 July 1979, 1 male, 1 female, J.C.
Morse, USNM Collection; Whitewater River, Whitewater Falls, 22 September
1980, J.C. Morse, 4 larvae, Det. J.C. Morse, 1981, CUAC; same, except 13 July
1983, at Hwy 281, l male, l female, O.S. Flint, USNM Collection; same, except
6 March 1987, R.L. Canterbury, 1 larva, Det. J.C. Morse, 1987, CUAC; same,
except 7 May 1991, J.C. Morse, 9 larvae, Det. J.C. Morse, 1991, CUAC. Macon
County: Cullasaja River, 9 May 1976, 19.1 km above jct. NC 28 and Bypass US
441 and 23, D.A. Etnier, many larvae; same, except 7 larvae, UT 4.314; same, except
19 June 1976, 9.6 km. W of Highlands, G.A. Schuster, 4 larvae, 1 male mmt.,
3 female mmts.; same, except 41 male, 34 female; same, except 11 male, 1 female,
USNM Collection. Transylvania/Jackson counties: Whitewater River, 3 July 1991,
at 35.03333ºN, 83.01667ºW, D. Loch, 32 male, 65 female, Det. Yang 1991, CUAC;
same, except 22 July 1993, J.C. Morse, 23 male, 24 female, Det. J.C. Morse, 1993,
CUAC. Transylvania County: Bearcamp Creek, 15–16 June 1987, at 427 m elevation,
Duke loc. #585.3, UV light coll., S.W. Hamilton, K.M. Hoffman, 4 female,
Det. S.W. Hamilton, 1987, CUAC; Corbin Creek, June 1987, 2.4 highway km N of
SR 281 Whitewater River bridge, ca. 910 m elevation (Floyd et al. 1997). Swain
County: Oconaluftee River, 27 May 1976, at Cherokee, NC, D.A. Etnier, 1 larva;
Smokemont, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC, 7 June 1988, light trap, 1
male, UT 4.635.
South Carolina. Greenville County: Matthews Creek, 30 January 1993, 3.9 km
W of Caesars Head, 35.10397ºN, 82.67458ºW, 914 m elevation, J.C. Morse, A.
Horton, 1 larva, Det. A. Horton, CUAC. Oconee County: Whitewater River, 15–16
June 1987, above Lower Falls, ca. 561 m elevation, Duke loc. #582.1, S.W. Hamilton,
K.M. Hoffman, 43 male, 54 female, Det. M.A. Floyd, 1994, CUAC; same, except
20–21 July 1987, 3 male, Det. M.A. Floyd, 1995, CUAC; Howard Creek (right
fork), 12–13 May 1989, off Hwy. S-413, 738 m elevation, Duke loc. #577.0, S.W.
Hamilton, K.M. Hoffman, 1 male, 7 female, Det. M.A. Floyd, 1994, CUAC; Coley
Creek, 15–16 June 1987, at 439 m elevation, Duke loc. #584.4, UV light coll., S.W.
Hamilton, K.M. Hoffman, 2 female, Det. S.W. Hamilton, 1987, CUAC; Toxaway
Creek, 22 October 1982, on SC Rt. 48, 34.70142ºN, 83.23662ºW, C. Missimer, 9
larvae, Det. C. Missimer, CUAC; Thompson River, 15–16 June 1987, at NC border,
ca. 439 m elevation, Duke loc. #583.2, UV light coll., S.W. Hamilton, K.M. Hoffman,
82 male, 141 female, Det. S.W. Hamilton, 1987, CUAC; Chattooga River,
26–27 May 1981, at Burrell’s Ford, near Route 107, coll. ENT 412/612 [Clemson
University class], many males and females, Det. S.W. Hamilton, 1985, CUAC; East
Fork Chattooga River, 30 March 1989, US Fish Hatchery (Walhalla), J.C. Morse, 2
larvae, CUAC. Pickens County: Eastatoe Creek, 29 June 1993, at State Route 237,
approx. 1.6 km W of Rocky Bottom, M.A. Floyd, 4 male, 40 female, Det. M.A. Floyd,
1993, CUAC; same, except 9 July 1993, 13 male, 113 female, Det. M.A. Floyd,
1993, CUAC.
2008 Southeastern Naturalist Notes 747
Tennessee. Johnson County: Doe Creek, 22 April 2005, public access area along
SR 167, ca. 1.6 km upstream of Watauga Reservoir, 36.38279ºN, 81.95271ºW, R.D.
Bivens, B.D. Carter, and C.E. Williams, 2 larvae, UT 4.896; same, except 2 larvae,
TWRA 5.279.
Acknowledgments. We thank David A. Etnier, Department of Evolutionary Biology,
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for verification of our identifications
and helpful comments on the manuscript. John C. Morse, Department of Entomology,
Soils, and Plant Sciences Clemson University, Clemson, SC, provided information
from the Clemson University Arthropod Collection (CUAC). Oliver S. Flint, Jr.
provided records from the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
(USNM), and Colin Favret provided records from the Illinois Natural History
Survey (INHS). Funding and support were provided in part by funds from Federal
Aid in Fish and Wildlife Restoration (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Project
4321 and 4350) as documented in Federal Aid Project FW-6 (Public Law 91-503).
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1Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, 3030 Wildlife Way, Morristown, TN 37814. *Corresponding
author - rick.bivens@state.tn.us.