Description

The caddis-fly species included in this atlas are environments using insects as a biological measure those either described or recorded from the SW Paci- of water quality. Such surveys have amassed con- fic - Australian region. For the purposes of this siderable amounts of material and initiated extensive work the SW Pacific - Australian region is defined taxonomic work to enable comparative ecological as the area within the boundaries of Weber's line, studies. north to the Equator, east to the International date- The family classification of Trichoptera was ana- line, south to the small islands off the South Island lysed by Ross (1956, 1967), Riek (1968, 1977), Schmid of New Zealand and west to coastal Western Australia (1970) and Neboiss (1977). In New Zealand, McFarlane (see Map page 5). The latgest landmass of the region continued studies of the local fauna and described is the Australian continent. numerous species in a series of papers (1956 - 1981) The history of caddis-fly studies in the SW Paci- which were further added to by Leader (1972), Cowley fic region begins with the description of the Austra- (1976) and Henderson (1983).