Baetis monnerati Gattolliat & Sartori, 2012

Yanai, Zohar, Gattolliat, Jean-Luc & Dorchin, Netta, 2018, Taxonomy of Baetis Leach in Israel (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae), ZooKeys 794, pp. 45-84 : 45

Baetis monnerati Gattolliat & Sartori, 2012 Figures 4C, 10, 11

Baetis monnerati Gattolliat & Sartori in Gattolliat et al. 2012: 99-104, figs 25-47; Al Hejoj et al. 2014: 366-367, fig 2A; Bojková et al. 2018: 95; Ramadan and Katbeh-Bader 2018: 120, pl 1.

Differential diagnosis.

This species (Figures 10, 11) was described in detail by Gattolliat et al. (2012). This is the only Israeli species that exhibits a combination of developed, blunt dorsal setae on the femora, a regular row of short spines on the distal margin of the abdominal terga, and body and gills that are not elongate. The colour pattern on the abdomen is usually clearly visible (Figure 4C), but a similar pattern may occasionally be seen in other species. Baetis monnerati populations in various parts of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority exhibit a wide morphological diversity compared that in congeners, e.g. in size, colour pattern and size of spines on tergite distal margins.

Affinities.

Baetis monnerati belongs to the B. buceratus species group sensu Müller-Liebenau (1969) and exhibits 21 of the 22 characters of the group as defined by Soldán and Godunko (2009). It was discussed in detail and compared to related species by Gattolliat et al. (2012).

Distribution and ecology.

Baetis monnerati is the most abundant and widespread Baetis species in the Israeli fauna. It is common in the Golan Heights, Hula Valley, Upper and Lower Galilee, Jordan Valley, eastern Judean Mountains, and the Dead Sea area. Outside of Israel it is found in Jordan ( Gattolliat et al. 2012; Alhejoj et al. 2014; Ramadan and Katbeh-Bader 2018) and Iran ( Bojková et al. 2018). Suitable habitats for B. monnerati in Israel vary greatly and include brooks and streams of various sizes in temperate and semi-arid regions (Figure 2 A–H), usually with pristine water. It is rarely found in slightly disturbed habitats. It is usually found in large numbers and constitutes a major component of the macroinvertebrate community. Dense populations occur in habitats with pebbles and stones together with algae and submerged vegetation. In Israel, adults and mature nymphs were collected in winter and spring ( January–May), and were less abundant in fall ( October–November).

Material examined.

Holotype. JORDAN: 1N, Wadi Weida’a, 15.xii.2010, C. Monnerat. Other material. ISRAEL: 3N, Fit Spring, 31.v.2014, Z. Yanai; 4N, Zippori Stream (Ras Ali), 02.iii.2015, Z. Yanai; 9N, Qazabiyye Springs, 11.v.2015, Y. Hershkovitz & T. Eshcoly; 86N, Meron Stream (Meron Spring), 12.v.2015, Y. Hershkovitz & T. Eshcoly; 125N, Iyyon Stream (Qiryat Shemona), 12.v.2015, Y. Hershkovitz & T. Eshcoly; 70N, Samakh Stream, 13.v.2015, Y. Hershkovitz & T. Eshcoly; 25N, Jordan River (Ateret Fortress), 29.x.2015, Z. Yanai & Y. Brenner; 97N, Senir Stream (Bet Hillel), 05.xi.2015, Z. Yanai & S. Cohen; 20N (2N on slides), Zippori Stream (Zippori Springs), 07.xi.2015, Z. Yanai & S. Cohen; 19N, Keziv Stream (Hardalit Spring), 07.xi.2015, Z. Yanai & S. Cohen; 4N, Yehudiyya Stream, 27.iii.2016, Y. Hershkovitz; 11N, Iyyon Stream (Qiryat Shemona), 05.iv.2016, Z. Yanai; 66N, Iyyon Stream (nature reserve), 05.iv.2016, Z. Yanai; 340N (1N on slide), Arugot Stream, 09.v.2016, Z. Yanai; 31N, Enan Stream, 17.xi.2016, Z. Yanai & L. Goren; 160N (1N on slide), Dawid Stream, 07.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 210N, Arugot Stream, 07.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 100N, Senir Stream (Bet Hillel), 09.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 130N, Senir Stream (nature reserve), 09.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 20N, Iyyon Stream (nature reserve), 05.iv.2016, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 8N, Tina Spring, 10.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 23N, Hula (nature reserve), 11.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 250N, Jordan River (Ateret Fortress), 11.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 34N, Jordan River (Ariq Bridge), 11.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 38N, Yehudiyya Stream, 11.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 80N, Daliyyot Stream, 11.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 4N, Rekhesh Stream (Rekhesh Spring), 04.v.2017, E. Elron. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: 23N (1N on slide), Perat Stream (nature reserve), 14.vi.2014, Z. Yanai; 1N (on slide), Perat Stream (nature reserve), 20.vi.2015, Z. Yanai; 9N, Perat Stream (nature reserve), 24.i.2017, Z. Yanai & K. Tamar; 120N, Perat Stream (nature reserve), 08.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat; 8N, Pezael Springs, 08.iii.2017, Z. Yanai & J.-L. Gattolliat.