Atanatolica aurea Holzenthal 1988

Atanatolica aurea Holzenthal

Atanatolica aurea Holzenthal, 1988b:77.

This species was recently described from material collected near Medcllín. It is known only from Antioquia and is commonly netted from foliage near waterfalls and cascades on the mountainsides.

MATERIAL.—COLOMBIA. DPTO. ANTIOQUIA: 24 km NW Medellín [road to San Jerónimo], 22 Feb 1984, C.M. & O.S. Flint, Jr., 1 (holotype), 1 (paratype). 26 km NW Medellín [road to San Jerónimo], 23 Feb 1984, C.M. & O.S. Flint, Jr., 3. Quebrada La Iguaná, 17 km NW Medellín [road to San Jerónimo], 14–15 Feb 1983, O.S. Flint, Jr., 3. 10 km E Medellín [road to Las Palmas], 21 Feb 1984, C.M. & O.S. Flint, Jr., 2. 12 km E Medellín [road to Sta. Elena], 6 Feb 1983, O.S. Flint, Jr., 4. Quebrada Espadera, 7 km E Medellín [road to Sta. Elena], 6 Mar 1984, C.M. & O.S. Flint, Jr., 1.

This interesting genus of exclusively Neotropical distribution contains a single species in Antioquia. The genus contains at least 4 species (Holzenthal, 1988b) known from Colombia and Venezuela in the north, and in the south to northern Argentina.

The larvae have a very unusual morphology that has been described a number of times (Müller 1880, 1881; Thienemann, 1909; Roback, 1966; Correa et al., 1981; Holzenthal, 1988b). The immature stages are found on the upper surfaces of large rocks and boulders in very fast streams and rivers. They construct slightly curved and tapered cases made wholly of silk, or rarely of sand grains. Their food habits have not been investigated, but the shape of their mandibles suggests that they graze on periphyton.