Oeconesus Explained

Oeconesus is a genus of caddisflies belonging to the family Oeconesidae. The genus was first recognised by Robert McLachlan in 1862. All known species of Oeconesus are endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

Robert McLachlan in 1862 originally placed the genus within the family Sericostomatidae. This was revised in 1921 when Robert John Tillyard placed Oeconesus within the family Oeconesidae. Tillyard designated Oeconesus as the type genus of the family. McLachlan designated Oeconesus maori as the type species of the genus. Genetically, Oeconesus forms a clade with three other Oeconesidae genera: Tarapsyche, Pseudoeconesus and Zelandopsyche.^[1]

Description

McLachlan's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

Distribution

The genus is found in New Zealand.

Notes and References

1. 10.1080/00288330.2009.9626536. 0028-8330. 43. 5. 1137–1146. Hogg. Ian D. Smith. Brian J. Banks. Jonathan C. Dewaard. Jeremy R. Hebert. Paul DN. Testing use of mitochondrial COI sequences for the identification and phylogenetic analysis of New Zealand caddisflies (Trichoptera). New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 2009. 10289/3545. free.