Abstract
Chironomidae (Diptera) are among the most diverse and widespread aquatic insects, with roughly 5,500 described species. However, prior to the present work, no species of Chironomidae had been documented from the island of Hispaniola. Collections of non-biting midges, with emphasis on the lotic fauna, were made in the Dominican Republic during July of 2015. In total, 578 specimens belonging to 27 genera and at least 44 species within the subfamilies Chironominae (20 taxa), Orthocladiinae (16 taxa) and Tanypodinae (8 taxa) were found. The subfamilies Chironominae and Orthocladiinae predominated. Polypedilum was the most widespread and diverse genus of Chironominae. Metriocnemus were collected in bromeliad tanks. The chironomid fauna in Dominican Republic includes multiple genera with worldwide distributions, including Holarctic and Neotropical components.
Highlights
Non-biting midges, belonging to the family Chironomidae (Diptera), are the most widely distributed free-living holometabolous insects (Ferrington 2008)
The goal of our study was to provide data on the Chironomidae of the Dominican Republic, in order to contribute to the overall knowledge of Caribbean fauna
Hispaniola (Fig. 1) is the second largest island (76,480 km2) in the archipelago of the Greater Antilles, Caribbean Region. It is centrally located in the Caribbean basin just south of the Tropic of Cancer at 17o40’ and 19o56’ North latitude and 68o20’ and 72o01’ West longitude. This natural geographic unit is shared by two countries with different languages and cultures, Haiti on the western one third (27,750 km2) and the Dominican Republic on the eastern two thirds (48,730 km2) (PerezGelabert 2008)
Summary
Non-biting midges, belonging to the family Chironomidae (Diptera), are the most widely distributed free-living holometabolous insects (Ferrington 2008). The immature stages of most species occur in freshwater, but numerous terrestrial or marine species are known (Sæther and Ekrem 2003). The adult life stage of chironomids is short, and most of the lifespan is spent as a larva. The great species and habitat diversity makes this family a valuable indicator species for lentic and lotic aquatic ecosystems, and a most interesting group for phylogenetic and biogeographical analyses (Silva and Ekrem 2015). The lack of descriptions and keys to a local fauna prevents species identifications, or workers choose to overlook the Chironomidae in favor of groups (e.g. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) that are more restricted in number and diversity (Spies et al 2009)
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