The Freshwater Insects

Abstract

The state of entomological research in a country depends very much upon its culture and economy. Because of the former factor research on aquatic insects in New Zealand only started to gain momentum during the present century. Our reliance upon agriculture has meant that the bulk of entomological research has been turned in that direction and consequently aquatic entomology has been carried out by a small number of workers either amateur or in universities and museums. The impact of so few workers is not great and in most aquatic orders much systematic work has to be accomplished. This lack of basic knowledge has had its affect upon both zoogeographical and ecological research. The influence of the state of a taxon’s systematics on its zoogeography can be illustrated by looking at the stages that the systematics of N.Z. Plecoptera have passed through. 1. Species assigned to Northern genera and families. 2. Species assigned to new genera but still in Northern families. 3. New genera now in new tribes or sub-families still in Northern families. 4. All now in Southern families. Obviously these stages have not been completely passed through in other orders and the result gives a false impression of their relationships. This is particularly so where a considerable length of time has elapsed since work was done on certain taxa and also where poor taxonomic criteria are still in use.