In the 1960s Letha Karunakaran studied the chironomid fauna of Singapore but faced a lack of sufficiently detailed descriptions to enable identification of her material with any certainty. She recognized seven species of Chironomus (s.s) but sent me fixed larval material of only four of these which she tentatively identified as C. apicatus Johannsen 1932, C. costatus Johannsen 1932, C. javanus Kieffer 1924, and C. stupidus Johannsen 1932. She sent fixed larvae to me for confirmation of her identifications, but died before I was able to determine accurate identities from morphology alone. With additional comparative material, along with polytene chromosome banding patterns and DNA barcode sequence from the mitochondrial COI gene, the species have been identified as a form of C. flaviplumus (auct, not Tokunaga)(here called C. flaviplumus Type B), C. circumdatus Kieffer 1916, probably C. striatipennis Kieffer 1910, and Kiefferulus barbatitarsis (Kieffer 1911), respectively. The identification of one species as a form of C. flaviplumus required an assessment of the present state of knowledge of this species where the name has been applied to at least five different species. Determination of a valid name for this species is not currently possible. The confusion of species identification is an indication that there are a number of closely related species which constitute a “C. flaviplumus group”.
vendredi 30 décembre 2022
mardi 27 décembre 2022
jeudi 15 décembre 2022
We present preliminary findings of the effects of nematode infestation on winter-active chironomid biology, and how short-term temperature spikes could affect host-parasite interactions. Results are limited but indicate nematodes may infest winter-active chironomid communities and significantly affect host chironomid biology. Further research on winter-active insects should include investigations into nematode parasitism to better understand how climate change will affect chironomid survival at the population and community level.
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vendredi 3 juin 2022
In the 1960s Letha Karunakaran studied the chironomid fauna of Singapore but faced a lack of sufficiently detailed descriptions to enable identification of her material with any certainty. She recognized seven species of Chironomus (s.s) but sent me fixed larval material of only four of these which she tentatively identified as C. apicatus Johannsen 1932, C. costatus Johannsen 1932, C. javanus Kieffer 1924, and C. stupidus Johannsen 1932. She sent fixed larvae to me for confirmation of her identifications, but died before I was able to determine accurate identities from morphology alone. With additional comparative material, along with polytene chromosome banding patterns and DNA barcode sequence from the mitochondrial COI gene, the species have been identified as a form of C. flaviplumus (auct, not Tokunaga)(here called C. flaviplumus Type B), C. circumdatus Kieffer 1916, probably C. striatipennis Kieffer 1910, and Kiefferulus barbatitarsis (Kieffer 1911), respectively. The identification of one species as a form of C. flaviplumus required an assessment of the present state of knowledge of this species where the name has been applied to at least five different species. Determination of a valid name for this species is not currently possible. The confusion of species identification is an indication that there are a number of closely related species which constitute a “C. flaviplumus group”.
Parachironomus monochromus (van der Wulp, 1874) was recorded for the first time in Slovakia in an urban pond and a city fountain along with a total of 27 other chironomid taxa recorded both as larvae and pupal exuviae. Our finding emphasizes the role of urban waterbodies as habitats for rare species and for maintaining and documenting aquatic biodiversity in cities.
mardi 26 avril 2022
Two new species of Monopelopia Fittkau, 1962 are described and illustrated from the Oriental region based on adult males and immature stages. Monopelopia (Monopelopia) recta sp. n. and Monopelopia (Monopelopia) obscurata sp. n. are described from India and a DNA barcode of M. recta is compared with congeneric sequences in NCBI GenBank. Additionally, a key to the adult males of genus Monopelopia reported from the Oriental and Palearctic regions is given.
mardi 5 avril 2022
We announce that the 21st International Symposium on Chironomidae in 2022 will be held online and provide the following url to the symposium website: https://kinki-convention.jp/isc2022/.