Ptychoptera lacustris, Meigen, 1830

Wiberg-Larsen, Peter, Hansen, Søren Birkholm, Rinne, Aki, Viitanen, Esko & Krogh, Paul Henning, 2021, Key to Ptychopteridae (Diptera) larvae of Northern Europe, with notes on distribution and biology, Zootaxa 5039 (2), pp. 179-200 : 194

Ptychoptera lacustris

The species has a southern distribution within the regarded geographical area ( Fig. 5B ), being recorded in all countries except Latvia (Timm et al. 2011; Zwick 2020), although it undoubtedly occurs here too. It is abundant in U.K and Denmark. Its northern boundary is located at approx. 60.5° latitude in Fennoscandia and at 57.5° latitude in the U.K. Its distributional area extends to middle and southern Europe ( Spain, Italy, Balkan) and, to the east, into the European part of Russia (West of Ural), Ukraine and Western Turkey ( Zwick 2020). Furthermore, it is found in the Nearctic ( Zwick 2020).

The species is confined to running water habitats. In Denmark, larvae are primarily found in small brooks with a width <2 m, typically located in woodlands. However, it also occurs in helocrens, frequently in microhabitats with almost no water movement. Preference for woodland streams is reported from the U.K. ( Stubbs 1993).

Adults are primarily found from May to July (peaking in June) in the U.K., Denmark and Fennoscandia. There are late records in September in the U.K. ( Stubbs 1993).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Ptychoptera species within the geographical area defined as Northern Europe, delineated by grey line. A. Ptychoptera albimana; B. P. lacustris; C. P. longicauda; D. P. paludosa. Blue dots show specific records, blue raster indicates confirmed but unspecified presence and red raster indicates likely presence.