Die endemischen Trichopteren der Karpaten

Summary

The Trichopteran fauna of the various parts of the Carpathian range as well as that of the mountains directly connected to the Carpathians is well enough known as to allow a synthetic approach of the endemic elements of this fauna. All species and subspecies exclusively known from the Carpathians are listed. For each of them the established facts and open problems are presented. Not less than 42 species and geographical races can be considered as Carpathian endemics, this representing about 15% of the whole Carpathian caddisfly fauna. This high percentage could be explained by the considerable length of the range (the Carpathians being distinctly divided by transverse valleys or by intramontane depressions) as well as by its character of a biogeographical crossway. Most of the endemics belong either to the genus Rhyacophila or to the family Limnephilidae. A table shows how unequally the endemics are distributed along the Carpathian bow. The study of these endemic elements enable us to clear up many problems concerning the origin and evolution of the Carpathian fauna as a whole, but it proves very useful to take into account also other elements.