Distribution patterns and habitat characterization of Simuliidae (Insecta: Diptera) in a low-order sandstone stream (Weidlingbach, Lower Austria)

A total of 1504 larval and 31 pupal Simuliidae were caught from March 2000 to February 2001 at the Weidlingbach, a fourth order tributary of the Danube near Vienna, Austria, using a modified box sampler (sampling area = 2116 cm²) at 12 sampling stations from source to mouth. From the six species collected, Prosimulium tomosvaryi (Enderlein) and two species of the Simulium ornatum-group (S. trifasciatum Curtis and S. ornatum Meigen) accounted for 97.5% of the total. Based on head width, instars 1–7 were collected in the S. ornatum-group and instars 2–7 in P. tomosvaryi; from two of the remaining species Simulium (Nevermannia) cryophilum (Rubzov) and S. (N.) vernum Macquart], only pupae were sampled. The S. ornatum-group was most abundant on coarse substrates (median = 55.9 mm) exposed to high water velocity (median = 55.9 cm/s; range = 9–83 cm/s); the latter was also true for P. tomosvaryi although it favoured smaller sediment grain sizes (median = 32.4 mm). Species richness and population density increased from source to mouth. At sampling sites near the source Simuliidae were completely lacking. In headwaters only P. tomosvaryi was present, whereas the S. ornatum-group and Simulium (Simulium) argyreatum Meigen was collected exclusively near the mouth.