Perla pyrenaica Reding 2023

Perla pyrenaica Reding, 2023 = Perla grandis Rambur, 1842 in Lavandier (1979)? TAXO. This species has been recently described, with the aim of separating the species complex Perla grandis / bipunctata and thereby distinguished from the alpine species Perla grandis Rambur, 1842 and Perla ravizzaorum Reding, 2023. The holotype of P. pyrenaica comes from Estaragne, site a 1: “ Type material. Holotype male: FRANCE. Occitania. Hautes-Pyrénées; tributary to Estaragne, cote 2193, 2240 m, 21 Jun 2022, 1 ♂ ” (Reding, 2023). While the adult male of P. pyrenaica seems to be easily recognizable using the criteria of Reding (2023), the morphological distinction of both females and larvae between P. pyrenaica and P. grandis remains challenging. Moreover, while females could be identified from the eggs, morphologically different from those of alpine Perla grandis (Alexandre Ruffoni, pers. comm.), this criterion was not used in the original description of P. pyrenaica (Reding 2023). Following these considerations, we have decided to name Perla pyrenaica only the male imagos, the ones also identified and cited in Reding (2023).