Preliminary report on Trichoptera from the headwaters of the Cuanavale, Cuito, Cuembo and Cuando Rivers in Angola

Abstract

Trichoptera larvae and adults were collected as part of an overall assessment of aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity in the major headwater tributaries of the Okavango and Zambezi River basins in Angola. This report documents one of the National-Geographic-funded, Okavango-Wilderness-Project expeditions undertaken between October and November 2016. A total of 21 sites on the Cuanavale, Cuito, Cuando, and Cuembo Rivers and some of their tributaries were sampled. Biotopes sampled in source lakes, headwater streams, pools, and large rivers included mostly sandy substrates, aquatic emergent and submerged vegetation, marginal vegetation and (rarely) bedrock, stones, or gravel. Light trap collecting was possible at only seven sites. With both adults and larvae collected, at least 55 species in seven families (Philopotamidae, Dipseudopsidae, Ecnomidae, Hydropsychidae, Hydroptilidae, Leptoceridae, and Sericostomatidae) were recorded. The Leptoceridae were the most abundant family, represented by ten genera and 22 species. There are a number of unnamed species which will be described in a separate paper.