Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal Srinagar-190 006, Kashmir, J&K, India
*Corresponding author's present address: P.O. Box No. 1250, G.P.O. Residency Road, Srinagar - 190 001, Kashmir (J&K); E-mail: bhagatrc@yahoo.com.
Online published on 29 November, 2011.
This paper provides species richness and biodiversity of mayflies of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh region, inhabiting water bodies like fresh water streams and River (Jehlum) and its tributries, covering more than 50 species of mayflies of these regions, belonging to 28 genera and 9 families. The regional distribution of number of species shows, a total of 47 spp. from Kashmir, 10 spp. from Jammu and 5 spp. from Ladakh region. The dominant family of Ephemeroptera was found to be Heptageniidae, followed by Baetidae, in Kashmir region. Genus Epeorus showed wide occurrence, having highest number of species as 6. Mayflies have been found to be dominant benthic invertebrates of clean/unpolluted water bodies of Kashmir. Mayflies such as Acentrella and Baetids (Baetiella, Baetis and Cloeon), serve as food for trout fishes as well as for other aquatic-fauna of the Valley. In addition to this, an annotated and updated checklist of mayfly-fauna of J&K State, including Ladakh Himalayan region (North-west), has also been added.
