Oxyethira (Trichoglene) columba (Neboiss)

Wells, Alice, 2012, New synonyms in the Australian micro-caddisfly fauna (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae), Zootaxa 3177, pp. 66-68 : 67

Oxyethira (Trichoglene) columba (Neboiss)

Trichoglene columba Neboiss, 1977: 43

Oxyethira columba ( Neboiss, 1977) ; Wells 1981: 106 Oxyethira (Trichoglene) columba ( Neboiss, 1977) ; Kelley 1984: 436 Oxyethira elora Olah & Johanson, 2010: 33 ; syn. nov.

The holotype of Oxyethira elora Olah & Johanson, 2010 , is from Tasmania, as are a number of specimens Olah and Johanson designated as paratypes; another paratype is from Carnarvon Gorge in central Queensland. Upon examination of the holotype, it was found to be indistinguishable from that of Oxyethira columba (Neboiss) with which it is here synonymised. Oxyethira columba is widespread and often abundant in Tasmania and on mainland Australia, where it occurs from Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island in South Australia through the Grampians of Victoria to the east and northeast in streams on both sides of the Dividing Range to just north of Townsville in northern Queensland.

Males of Oxyethira columba show some variability in proportions of genitalic structures. However, in a morphometric study on various genitalic structures of O. columba undertaken some years ago, Wells (unpublished data) was unable to demonstrate any significant difference in their proportions, or, using multivariate analysis, between populations, thus postulating that they all represent a discrete species. Much of the apparent variability appears to be attributable to the degree to which the genitalia are cleared and relaxed, and the magnification and angle at which the specimens are viewed. The major differences between Oxyethira columba and Oxyethira elora as illustrated and described by Olah and Johanson (2010) are the shapes of segment IX, the spine on the aedeagus and the dorso-apical processes (but the first is close to that illustrated by Wells (1981), and the perception of the latter two depends upon the angle at which the structures are viewed). However, examination of the holotype of Oxyethira elora itself shows that it conforms to Oxyethira columba in all respects.