Papers by Helen M Barber-James
The imago and nymph of Lestagella penicillata are redescribed based on historic specimens and new... more The imago and nymph of Lestagella penicillata are redescribed based on historic specimens and new material from Table Mountain slopes (Skeleton Gorge and Window Stream), Western Cape, South Africa. A male from Barnard’s syntype se-ries is designated as the lectotype. Wear-and-tear of mouthparts, particularly the mandibles, has led to errors in identifica-tion of diagnostic characters for the nymphs in earlier publications. Previous descriptions of the mandibles being atrophied, in terms of dentition, are erroneous. The generic diagnosis of Lestagella is modified to account for these errors and intraspecific variability. Adults are distinguished from other Teloganodidae by the combination of a short, detached iMP vein on the forewing, three caudal filaments and gill socket vestiges on segments II- IV. Nymphs are distinguished from other Teloganodidae by a conspicuous head fringe, lamellate gills on abdominal segments II–IV and a dorso-ven-trally flattened body.
ZooKeys, 2020
This study investigates genetic diversity in three species of Ephemeroptera, one eurytopic and th... more This study investigates genetic diversity in three species of Ephemeroptera, one eurytopic and therefore widespread (Afroptilum sudafricanum) and two stenotopic and thus endemic (Demoreptus natalensis and Demoreptus capensis) species, all of which co-occur in the southern Great Escarpment, South Africa. Mitochondrial DNA was analysed to compare the genetic diversity between the habitat generalist and the two habitat specialists. Afroptilum sudafricanum showed no indication of population genetic structure due to geographic location, while both Demoreptus species revealed clear genetic differentiation between geographic localities and catchments, evident from phylogenetic analyses and high FST values from AMOVA. In addition, the phylogenetic analyses indicate some deeper haplotype divergences within A. sudafricanum and Demoreptus that merit taxonomic attention. These results give important insight into evolutionary processes occurring through habitat specialisation and population isol...
Many studies have highlighted the potential of DNA-based methods for the biomonitoring of freshwa... more Many studies have highlighted the potential of DNA-based methods for the biomonitoring of freshwater macroinvertebrates, however only a few studies have investigated homogenisation of bulk samples that include debris to reduce sample-processing time. In order to explore the use of DNA-based methods in water quality assessment in South Africa, this study compares morphological and molecular-based identification of freshwater macroinvertebrates at the mixed higher taxon and mOTU level while investigating abundance and comparing mOTU recovery with historical species records. From seven sites across three rivers in South Africa, we collected a biomonitoring sample, an intensive-search comprehensive sample and an eDNA sample per site. The biomonitoring sample was picked and scored according to standard protocols and the leftover debris and comprehensive samples were homogenised including all debris. DNA-based methods recovered higher diversity than morphology, but did not always recover ...
Zoologischer Anzeiger, 2019
Wings are one of the most important structures in the evolution of insects and winged insects are... more Wings are one of the most important structures in the evolution of insects and winged insects are widely accepted as being monophyletic. In Ephemeroptera, wing structure and shape is important for interpreting taxonomic relationships. Morphological variation in wing shape of 14 species of Teloganodidae mayfly was examined using landmark-based geometric morphometric methods and molecular phylogenetics to determine evolutionary shape change and allometry. Fore and hind wing shape data were tested for phylogenetic structure using an independently derived molecular phylogeny, which were then mapped into PCA shape space. The effect of evolutionary allometry as a factor contributing to shape change was examined and quantified. Significant phylogenetic signal was found in fore and hind wing shape, and evolutionary allometry was found to have a significant effect on fore wing but not hind wing shape variation. In the fore wing, evolutionary allometry was removed to explore the non-allometric component of shape variation and discuss possible implications on flight performance. The principal findings of this research show that the relationships between wing shape and size are complex and taxonspecific. We have revealed that evolutionary size changes have a considerable effect on the evolutionary shape changes of Teloganodidae fore wings, however this does not account for all the variation in shape. An increased fore wing size is associated with a broader wing base and narrower, raked wing apex, promoting less-energetically demanding flight, possibly with a higher range of speeds. The smaller species have a relatively narrow wing base and increased wing area at the apex, suggesting a slower flight with more agility, which is more energetically costly. The non-allometric variation involves similar, but less distinct shape changes compared to the allometric component, indicating that other processes must also contribute to the same features of evolutionary shape variation.
ZooKeys, 2020
The distinction between the two closely related genera Oligoneuriella Ulmer, 1924 and Oligoneurio... more The distinction between the two closely related genera Oligoneuriella Ulmer, 1924 and Oligoneuriopsis Crass, 1947 has been much debated. First described from South Africa, Oligoneuriopsis seemed to be a clearly defined genus. However, as the known distribution of the genus widened and knowledge on it expanded, species delimitation based on morphology became less clear due to overlap in several apparently defining morphological characters, especially in the nymphs. This work attempts to reassess Oligoneuriopsis morphology in the context of all currently known species. The type species, Oligoneuriopsis lawrencei Crass, 1947 is redescribed at the imaginal and nymphal stages and a neotype is designated. The putative nymph of Oligoneuriopsis dobbsi (Eaton, 1912) is described based on material collected around Mt Elgon (Kenya). The adults of Oligoneuriella orontensis Koch, 1980 are described for the first time and the species is transferred to the genus Oligoneuriopsis (Oligoneuriopsis or...
Hydrobiologia, 2018
Temporary lentic wetlands are becoming increasingly recognised for their collective role in contr... more Temporary lentic wetlands are becoming increasingly recognised for their collective role in contributing to biodiversity at the landscape scale. In southern Africa, a region with a high density of such wetlands, information characterising the fauna of these systems is disparate and often obscurely published. Here we provide a collation and synthesis of published research on the aquatic invertebrate fauna inhabiting temporary lentic wetlands of the region. We expose the poor taxonomic knowledge of most groups, which makes it difficult to comment on patterns of richness and endemism. Only a few groups (e.g. large branchiopods, ostracods, copepods and cladocerans) appear to reach higher richness and/or endemicity in temporary wetlands compared to their permanent wetland counterparts. IUCN Red List information is lacking for most taxa, thus making it difficult to comment on the conservation status of much of the invertebrate fauna. However, except for a few specialist groups, many of the taxa inhabiting these environments appear to be habitat generalists that opportunistically exploit these waterbodies and this is Handling editor: Dani Boix
Communications Biology
Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly unders... more Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered studies of the evolution and diversification of life, and has precluded detailed reconstructions and analyses of ecosystems of this critical period in Earth’s history. Here we introduce a new locality in the southern Karoo Basin that is producing exceptionally well-preserved and abundant fossils of novel freshwater and terrestrial insects, arachnids, and plants. Within a robust regional geochronological, geological and biostratigraphic context, this Konservat- and Konzentrat-Lagerstätte offers a unique opportunity for the study and reconstruction of a southern Gondwanan deltaic ecosystem that thrived 266–268 million years ago, and will serve as a high-resolution ecological baseline toward...
The checklist is supplied for the Catalogue of Life by FADA project. FADA, the Freshwater Animal ... more The checklist is supplied for the Catalogue of Life by FADA project. FADA, the Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment is an informal network of scientists specialized in freshwater biodiversity. Barber-James, H., Sartori, M., Gattolliat, J-L. and J. Webb, 2013 Jan 21, World checklist of freshwater Ephemeroptera species.
African Journal of Aquatic Science, 2016
Rapid biomonitoring protocols, using biotic indices based on macroinvertebrate diversity to asses... more Rapid biomonitoring protocols, using biotic indices based on macroinvertebrate diversity to assess river ecosystem health, are widely used globally. Such quick assessment techniques are lauded for the rapid results obtained and the relatively easy protocol used to achieve an answer. However, do such quick assessments of water quality give enough information about ecosystems? Are important details being overlooked? When should a full faunal survey be used in preference? Important research programmes, including environmental impact studies, often misuse biomonitoring techniques, making influential management decisions using superficial, low-level data obtained using biomonitoring tools, inappropriate to address those management objectives. The value of using biomonitoring as a quick tool, versus a more detailed faunal assessment, is considered here. The assessment of teloganodid mayfly fauna occurring in South African rivers provides an example of the value of detailed studies versus superficial family level investigations, showing that a rapid biomonitoring approach should not be used as a shortcut when a more detailed survey is needed. Each situation should be assessed for its own merit in a given set of project circumstances. A checklist of criteria is presented, giving guidance on when rapid biomonitoring alone is valuable and when more detailed assessments would give a more relevant result.
Conservation Ecology, 2002
A strategy for assigning priorities in biodiversity conservation was developed for the rivers of ... more A strategy for assigning priorities in biodiversity conservation was developed for the rivers of the proposed Greater Addo Elephant National Park (GAENP) in South Africa. Due to the limited availability of biological information on the freshwater ecosystems of this area, a desktop approach, supplemented by aerial and land surveys, was used to devise a new river classification typology. This typology incorporated landscape attributes as surrogates for biodiversity patterns, resulting in defined physical "signatures" for each river type. Riverine biodiversity is considered to be conserved by including rivers of each type as defined by the respective signatures. Where options existed, and two or more rivers shared the same signature, a simple procedure was used to assign priorities to "similar" rivers for conservation. This procedure considered the extent of transformation, degree of inclusion within the park, irreplaceability or uniqueness, and geomorphological diversity of each river. The outcome of the study was that 18 of the 31 rivers within the GAENP must be conserved to achieve representation of all of the biodiversity patterns identified. It is concluded that, given further development and testing, the river signature concept holds promise for elevating the river focus in general conservation planning exercises.
Inland Waters, 2012
Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are a merolimnic insect order (part of the life cycle is aquatic) and pl... more Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are a merolimnic insect order (part of the life cycle is aquatic) and play an important role as biological indicators of river ecosystem health. In the Afrotropical realm (including sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar), this order presently encompasses 122 genera and more than 400 species; all species and 85% of the genera are endemic to the Afrotropics. A great part of the diversity still remains unknown. The specific and generic diversity of mayfly families from Madagascar and from 4 sub-Saharan African subregions (West Africa, western Central Africa, eastern Central Africa, and southern Africa) is presented. A concurrent comparison of this diversity with the level of taxonomic knowledge for each subregion highlights inadequacy of knowledge. It is important for freshwater conservation biologists and ecologists, and for biomonitoring programs, to have a level of certainty when identifying taxa. This preliminary synthesis is intended to stimulate future taxonomic research and collecting efforts in understudied regions that will lead to species descriptions and recognition of the biodiversity of these regions. This information will feed into regional identification keys and enable more accurate species identification. Greater understanding of the diversity of organisms, the foundation for all ecological studies, can be used to refine biomonitoring protocols for freshwater organisms.
International Advances in the Ecology, Zoogeography, and Systematics of Mayflies and Stoneflies, 2008
The Tricorythidae of the Afrotropical Region is currently composed of five described genera, thre... more The Tricorythidae of the Afrotropical Region is currently composed of five described genera, three of which are thought to be restricted to Madagascar (Madecassorythus Elouard and Oliarioniny, Ranorythus Oliarinony and Elouard, and Spinirythus Oliarinony and Elouard), one which is restricted to Africa (Dicercomyzon Demoulin), and one which is thought to be distributed on both landmasses (Tricorythus Eaton). Based on sexual dimorphism, manifest in the relative eye size of mature male and female nymphs and adults and on the structure of the genitalia of adult males, it is proposed that there are two additional genera in Africa, as yet undescribed. One of these genera is represented by a species currently placed in Tricorythus (T. discolor [Burmeister]). Several other undescribed species within South Africa have been identified as belonging to the group. A second lineage is represented by Tricorythus tinctus Kimmins, from Uganda, the only currently described species. There are also several more undescribed species of this group widespread in Africa.
International Advances in the Ecology, Zoogeography, and Systematics of Mayflies and Stoneflies, 2008
Recent work on the Afrotropical Baetidae has resulted in a number of important taxonomic changes:... more Recent work on the Afrotropical Baetidae has resulted in a number of important taxonomic changes: several polyphyletic genera have been split and more than 30 new Afrotropical genera have been established. In order to test their phylogenetic relevance and to clarify the suprageneric relationships, we reconstructed the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Afrotropical Baetidae. We sequenced a total of ca. 2300 bp from nuclear (18S) and mitochondrial (12S and 16S) gene regions from 65 species belonging to 26 genera. We used three different approaches of phylogeny reconstruction: direct optimization, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. The molecular reconstruction indicates the Afrotropical Baetidae require a global revision at a generic as well as suprageneric level. Only four of the 12 genera were monophyletic when represented by more than one species in the analysis. Historically, two conflicting concepts of the suprageneric classification of Afrotropical Baetidae were proposed. One was based on the gathering of sister genera into complexes and the other on the division of the family into a restricted number of subfamilies. According to our reconstruction, neither is completely satisfactory: the major complexes of genera present in Africa are either paraphyletic or polyphyletic and the division of the Afrotropical Baetidae into two subfamilies is probably too simplified.
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 2007
As part of a multidisciplinary floristic-faunistic study, a three week survey of the invertebrate... more As part of a multidisciplinary floristic-faunistic study, a three week survey of the invertebrate fauna of Inaccessible Island (South Atlantic Ocean) was carried out in October/November 1989. In addition, one day of collecting was done on Nightingale Island. This paper deals only with the fauna associated with freshwater ecosystems from these islands, some of which are usually associated with marine or brackish conditions. On Inaccessible Island, five distinct types of freshwater body were identified -pH neutral streams, acidic streams (pH 5), an open pool of standing water (pH 6), areas of acidic bog, and seepages down rock faces. The survey, the most comprehensive for Inaccessible Island to date, has resulted in the discovery of 19 aquatic invertebrate species previously unrecorded on Inaccessible Island, two new to Nightingale Island, and 14 of which are new to the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Many of the species are known from other parts of the world, indicating a low degree of endemicity within the freshwater invertebrate community. Recolonisation from the source populations, preventing an isolated gene pool, may account for the low endemicity. Several of the species have a degree of salinity tolerance, enabling them to withstand transportation across tracts of ocean, and others have marine origins.
Journal of Insect Conservation, 2013
ABSTRACT The piscicide rotenone is used as a conservation tool to remove alien fishes from rivers... more ABSTRACT The piscicide rotenone is used as a conservation tool to remove alien fishes from rivers, though there is controversy over its effects on aquatic insects. An alien fish removal operation in the Rondegat River, Cape Floristic Region, South Africa, allowed the immediate impact of rotenone on an aquatic insect community in a region with high conservation values to be quantified. The insect community within the treated river was sampled in February 2011 (1 year before rotenone operations), February 2012 (1 week before) and March 2012 (1 week after). Insects were collected using kick sampling across multiple biotopes, together with samples from individual stones. We considered rotenone-precipitated losses to be those taxa captured a week before treatment but absent after, and assessed the endemism of lost species to determine the conservation impact of the rotenone. Species richness decreased significantly following treatment, even though many rare taxa were not recorded immediately prior to treatment. Of the 85 taxa identified, 18 were lost including five endemic to the mountain range which the river drains. Ephemeroptera were most severely affected, with a significant loss of density on stones post-rotenone and six out of 20 species missing. Since half the missing taxa were recorded upstream of the treatment area, recovery of diversity is likely to be relatively rapid. Given that alien invasive fish negatively affect both fish and aquatic insect communities in South Africa, the long-term positive conservation impact of removing these fish is likely to outweigh the short-term negative effects of the piscicide.
African …, 2001
Acanthiops Waltz & McCafferty (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) is shown to be a monophyletic grouping de... more Acanthiops Waltz & McCafferty (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) is shown to be a monophyletic grouping defined by an anteromedially emarginate and laterally expanded and flattened pronotum in the larva. Attempts to restrict the concept of Acanthiops to Ac. marlieri (Demoulin) and re-erect Afroptiloides Gillies, syn. n., for Ac. elgonensis Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty, Ac. griffithsi Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty, Ac. tsitsa Barber-James & McCafferty, Ac. variegatus (Gillies), Ac. varius (Crass) and Ac. zomba Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty, are shown to be based on inconsistent and inadequate morphological features that result in a paraphyletic taxonomy. The unofficial separate treatment of Ac. cooperi (Gillies & Wuillot) and Ac. erepens (Gillies) under Platycloeon Gillies & Wuillot is also shown to be paraphyletic. Acanthiops faro Barber-James & McCafferty, sp. n., is described from larvae from Guinea, and is distinguished by the combination of a papillate projection on labial palp segment 2, small tubercles on terga 1-8 and abdominal colour pattern. Acanthiops io Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty, sp. n., is described from larvae from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is distinguished by the combination of a papillate projection on palp segment 2, elongate tubercles on terga 1-9 and abdominal colour pattern. The larva of Ac. erepens (Gillies) is redescribed to incorporate morphological features and variability previously not accounted for, and larvae originally assigned to Baetis cataractae Crass are shown to be equivalent to Ac. erepens. New locality data or emendations on locality data are provided for Ac. griffithsi, Ac. tsitsa Barber-James & McCafferty and Ac. varius (Crass).
Aquatic Insects, 2009
Until recently, only four species of the monogeneric family Prosopistomatidae were described from... more Until recently, only four species of the monogeneric family Prosopistomatidae were described from the Afrotropical realm; one from Madagascar, and three from sub-Saharan Africa. Recent studies have revealed the family to be more diverse, with a further five species from Madagascar, one from the Comores archipelago and seven from sub-Saharan Africa, which are currently in the process of being formally
Aquatic Insects, 2010
The history of the early descriptions of Prosopistoma is reviewed, and the steps taken to trace t... more The history of the early descriptions of Prosopistoma is reviewed, and the steps taken to trace the original material described as Prosopistoma variegatum Latreille, 1833 are outlined. Eaton (1884) designated P. variegatum as the ''type'' of the genus Prosopistoma. Because only the larva was described by Latreille (1833) and this material is no longer available, a larva of this species was selected as the neotype. Scanning electron micrographs of some of the key larval characters provide additional detail for morphological characters not previously described in the Prosopistomatidae. The associated adult male and subimaginal male and female collected from the same sites as verified larvae of P. variegatum are described for the first time.
Uploads
Papers by Helen M Barber-James