辽宁省丹东地区吸血蠓类(双翅目:蠓科)生态调查

吸血蠓类对人畜危害较大,不仅是多种疾病的传播媒介,而且刺叮吸血骚扰性很大。1988年我们在辽宁省丹东地区东沟和风城二县郊区进行了采集和生态习性的调查,现将结果报道如下。材料和方法器材由军事医学科学院微生物流行病研究所提供的诱蠓帐、捕虫网和吸虫器。调查方法     

New Culicoides Latreille of the subgenus Mataemyia Vargas from Pará, Brazil (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Two new species of Culicoides Latreille of the Neotropical subgenus Mataemyia Vargas are described and illustrated based on female specimens from Juruti, Pará, Brazil and compared with their similar congeners. This paper also presents a diagnosis of the subgenus Mataemyia and a systematic key for the identification of the 19 species of the subgenus.     

Chironomid midges: a forgotten model of developmental biology research

For more than a century, embryologists have been exploring various model systems to gain insights into developmental processes. This article presents an overview of the role of chironomid midges in embryology research since their introduction as model organisms in the 19th century. We present the vestiges of bibliography since the days of Weismann (1834–1914), who raised preliminary queries to unravel many unique features of insect embryogenesis using midges as a crucible. Unfortunately, over the years, chironomid midges got lost into obscurity as a model for developmental biology, which is evident from the paucity of developmental biology–related literature on midges in the past decades. Through this essay, the authors intend to share reminiscences of the heydays of chironomid research with the wider community of zoologists with an aim of reviving chironomid embryology. Midges not only possess the basic qualities essential for an ideal model system, but being one of the ancestral dipteran stocks, they can also prove an excellent test system for evo‐devo, transgenetic, and embryogenomic investigations that utilize methodologies at the interface of developmental biology and high‐throughput molecular genetic and genomics approach. An introspection of re‐introducing chironomid midgesas model system will be rewarding for the contemporary developmental biologists.     

Mosquito control actions affect chironomid diversity in temporary wetlands of the Upper Rhine Valley

The Upper Rhine Valley, a “hotspot of biodiversity” in Germany, has been treated with the biocide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) for mosquito control for decades. Previous studies discovered Bti nontarget effects in terms of severe chironomid abundance reductions. In this study, we investigated the impact of Bti on species level and addressed the community composition of the nontarget family Chironomidae by use of community metabarcoding. Chironomid emergence data were collected in three mosquito‐control relevant wetland types in the Upper Rhine Valley. For all three sites the chironomid species composition, based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs), was different to varying degrees in the Bti‐treated samples versus control samples, ranging from a significant 63% OTU reduction to an OTU replacement. We assumed that predatory chironomids are less prone to Bti than filter feeders, as the latter feed on floating particles leading to direct ingestion of Bti. However, a comparable percentage of predators and filter feeders (63% and 65%, respectively) was reduced in the Bti samples, suggesting that the feeding strategy is not the main driver for Bti sensitivity in chironomids. Finally, our data was compared to a three‐year‐old data set, indicating possible chironomid community recovery due to species recolonization a few years after the last Bti application. Considering the currently discussed worldwide insect decline we recommend a rethinking of the usage of the biocide Bti, and to prevent its ongoing application especially in nature protection reserves to enhance ecological resilience and to prevent boosting the current biodiversity loss.     

Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) from four protected areas in the state of Pernambuco,Brazil

New records and distributional notes of Chironomidae (Insecta, Diptera) are provided for four protected areas in the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Additionally, we also present new records and update of distributional ranges from Brazil and the Neotropical Region. In total, 810 specimens belonging to 35 genera within the subfamilies Chironominae (22 taxa), Tanypodinae (11 taxa) and Orthocladiinae (2 taxa) were found. The subfamilies Chironominae and Tanypodinae predominated. Axarus Roback, 1980 Roback, S.S. (1980), ‘New name for Anceus Roback nec Anceus Risso’, Entomological News, 91, 32.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and the Tanytarsus ortoni-group were recorded for the first time in the state of Pernambuco, while Nanocladius Kieffer, 1913a Kieffer, J.J. (1913b), ‘Nouvelle étude sur les Chironomides de l'Indian Museum de Calcutta’, Records of the Indian Museum, 9, 119–197. [Google Scholar] was recorded for the first time in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Our results make evident how much and where current knowledge of the northeastern Brazil chironomids remains fragmentary.     

Tracing lake trophic history with a chironomid–total phosphorus inference model

1. In the absence of historical water chemistry data, predictive biological indicator groups preserved in lake sediments can be employed to reconstruct the history of lake eutrophication. Diatoms are well established in this role, but to augment diatom‐based inferences of nutrient status we investigate the potential use of chironomid midges (Insecta: Chironomidae). 2. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of modern chironomid assemblages in surface sediments from 44 lakes in the English Midlands and Wales, U.K., shows that five environmental variables (total phosphorus (TP), bottom dissolved oxygen, maximum lake depth, Secchi depth and surface water temperature) make a statistically significant (P < 0.05) contribution to explaining the variance in the chironomid data, of which TP makes the largest contribution (29%). 3. The relationship is used to develop a series of weighted averaging (WA) and partial least squares (PLS), (WA‐PLS) models to infer log₁₀TP. The models are evaluated by leave‐one‐out (jack‐knifing) cross‐validation. The simplest minimal adequate model is provided by WA with unweighted inverse deshrinking of root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP_jack=0.34 and r²_jack=0.60). 4. Using this model, the trophic history of Betton Pool, Shropshire, U.K., is reconstructed from the mid‐19th century to the present day and the results from the chironomid‐TP model are compared with inferences from a diatom‐TP model ( 13 ). Both reconstructions suggest that there was a gradual rise in TP since 1850 AD until about 1974, followed by a more pronounced and rapid increase that has continued until the present. Inferred TP values from the WA chironomid inference model agree with diatom‐inferred values. 5. The study demonstrates that fossil chironomid assemblages can be used to investigate quantitatively the trophic history of lakes.     

Non-random distribution among a guild of parasitoids: implications for community structure and host survival

Abstract 1. Immature stages of the gall midge, Asphondylia borrichiae, are attacked by four species of parasitoids, which vary in size and relative abundance within patches of the gall midge’s primary host plant, sea oxeye daisy (Borrichia frutescens). 2. In the current study, a bagging experiment found that the smallest wasp, Galeopsomyia haemon, was most abundant in galls exposed to natural enemies early in the experiment, when gall diameter is smallest, while the wasp with the longest ovipositor, Torymus umbilicatus, dominated the parasitoid community in galls that were not exposed until the 5th and 6th weeks when gall diameter is maximal. 3. Moreover, the mean number of parasitoids captured using large artificial galls were 70% and 150% higher compared with medium and small galls respectively, while stem height of artificial galls significantly affected parasitoid distribution. Galls that were level with the top of the sea oxeye canopy captured 60% more parasitoids compared with those below the canopy and 50% more than galls higher than the plant canopy. 4. These non‐random patterns were driven primarily by the differential distribution of the largest parasitoid, T. umbilicatus, which was found significantly more often than expected on large galls and the smallest parasitoid of the guild, G. haemon, which tended to be more common on stems level with the top of the plant canopy. 5. Large Asphondylia galls, especially those located near the top of the Borrichia canopy, were more likely to be discovered by searching parasitoids. Results using artificial galls were consistent with rates of parasitism of Asphondylia galls in native patches of sea oxeye daisy. Gall diameter was 19% greater and the rate of parasitism was reduced by almost 50% on short stems; as a result, gall abundance was 24% higher on short stems compared with ones located near the top of the plant canopy. 6. These results suggest that parasitoid community composition within galls is regulated by both interspecific differences in ovipositor length and preferences for specific gall size and/or stem length classes.     

Efficacy of the Entomopathogenic Fungus, Culicinomyces clavisporus against Larvae of the Biting Midge, Culicoides nubeculosus (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Culicinomyces clavisporus, a fungal pathogen of a wide range of mosquito species, was investigated in relation to potential pathogenicity against Culicoides nubeculosus biting midge larvae. Seven different C. clavisporus strains were assayed. Each showed some degree of activity against C. nubeculosus larvae with LC₅₀ values of between 3.2×10^-5 and 1.1×10^-6 spores/mL; these effects occurred in dose-dependent manners and tended to be delayed until 72-96 h post treatment. The results are discussed in relation to incorporation of C. clavisporus into biocontrol programmes for Culicoides spp.     

Checklist of the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) of Finland

A list of the 356 species of Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) recorded from Finland is presented, which comprises 6 Lestremiinae, 156 Micromyinae, 16 Winnertziinae, 69 Porricondylinae, and 109 Cecidomyiinae. The faunistic knowledge of Finnish Winnertziinae, Porricondylinae and Cecidomyiinae is regarded as particularly poor. Based on species numbers known from other countries in Europe, a conservative estimate is 700–800 species of Cecidomyiidae actually occurring in Finland.