Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling Analysis of Composition of Trichopterofauna from Two Protected Areas (Republic of Mordovia, Russia)

The fauna of caddisflies was studied from two protected areas of federal significance such as Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Temnikov district, Republic of Mordovia) and National Park “Smolny” (Ichalki district and Bolshoe Ignatovo district, Republic of Mordovia). The material was collected from May to October 2008, 2009, 2013–2021. There were 677 specimens from 59 caddisfly species from 12 families. The largest family Limnephilidae includes 29 species, there were 9 species each in the families Phryganeidae and Leptoceridae. Limnephilus sericeus and Holocentropus dubius dominated in the collections (12 and 10% from the total amount respectively), Hydropsyche angustipennis (8.9%), Hagenella clathrata (8.7%), Phryganea grandis (7.5%), Hydropsyche pellucidula (7.1%), Halesus tesselatus (6.6%) were numerous. Eighteen species of caddisflies (Rhyacophila fasciata, Holocentropus dubius, Agrypnia varia, Oligostomis reticulata, Anabolia concentrica, Anabolia furcata, Chaetopteryx villosa, Halesus digitatus, Limnephilus binotatus, Limnephilus extracatus, Limnephilus fuscicornis, Limnephilus ignavus, Limnephilus sericeus, Limnephilus sparsus, Limnephilus vittatus, Micropterna lateralis, Molanna albicans, Ceraclea excisa) supplement the known information on the fauna of the Republic of Mordovia, where 73 species from 14 families are currently recorded. The species Molanna albicans is indicated for the first time for the fauna of the Middle Volga region. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed similarities and differences in the composition of trichopterofauna among the study sites. There was the maximum similarity among the sites with more diverse biotopes. There were indicated preferred habitats of some species.