News records of the endemic snow fly chionea (Spaeconophilus) pyrenaea (Bourne, 1981) and update distribution of snow fly in the Pyrenees

Abstract

Wingless snow flies Chionea spp are highly specialized winter active arthropods of the supranivean fauna, for which little is known yet about their life history and ecology. Of the seven European species of the subgenus Chionea (Sphaeconophilus) , four are known from or can be expected to occur in the Pyrenees: C. pyrenaea Bourne 1981, C. bezzii Oosterbroek & Reusch 2008, C. alpina Bezzi 1908 and C. lutescens Lundstrom 1907. The former two are possible endemic species only known from one location and only from male individuals. In this paper we update the distribution and illustrate for the first time the habitus of the female of C. pyrenaea and give a new synthesis of the current distribution of snow flies in the Pyrenees. In the context of a projected increase in temperature and snowpack reduction in depth and duration, we point the vulnerability of these species to global climate change.