A new species of Rhyacophila Pictet, 1834 (Trichoptera, Rhyacophilidae) from Corsica with the genomic characterization of the holotype

Abstract

We describe a new species in the Rhyacophila tristis group, Rhyacophila lignumvallis Graf & Rázuri-Gonzales, sp. nov., from the island of Corsica (France) based on a single male specimen. In addition to the morphological differences between the new species and the most similar species in the group, we also provide a phylogenetic tree based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI), including sequences from 16 out of the 28 currently recognized species in the group. These data, together with conspecific larval sequences, support the status of the new species and shed light on an additional potential new species near Rhyacophila pubescens. Using a low-cost next-generation sequencing approach, we generated the mito- and draft nuclear genome assembly of the holotype of R. lignumvallis sp. nov. as well as that of R. tsurakiana. This genetic data represents an important additional characterization to the description of morphological features and is valuable for future investigations, such as population or phylogenomic studies.