The fauna and distribution of alderfly larvae (Sialidae, Megaloptera) in Northern Fennoscandia and its dependence on natural and anthropogenous factors

The results of a study of alderfly larvae (Sialidae, Megaloptera) from over 400 small lakes and ten large lakes and rivers in Northern Finland, Norway, and Murmansk oblast are presented. The distribution of five species of larvae in relation to the landscape, size of water bodies, hydrological type of water bodies, type of habitats, pH, water color, etc., is considered. Possessing a relatively higher plasticity and tolerance to environmental conditions, Sialis larvae were found more often and made the maximum contribution to the biomass of littoral macroinvertebrate communities in small north taiga and tundra lakes, slow water courses, on soft sediments, in vegetation, in weakly humic waters, and in circumneutral and weakly alkaline waters. High ecological plasticity, including pollution, is found in the larvae of S. morio Klingstedt and S. lutaria L. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2009