An updated list of chironomid species from Italy with biogeographic considerations (Diptera, Chironomidae)

Laura Marziali,Bruno Rossaro,Niccolò Pirola,Angela Boggero,Giulia Magoga,Matteo Montagna

doi:10.21426/b634043047

Abstract

Author(s): Rossaro, Bruno; Pirola, Niccolo; Marziali, Laura; Magoga, Giulia; Boggero, Angela; Montagna, Matteo | Abstract: In a first list of chironomid species from Italy from 1988, 359 species were recognized. The subfamilies represented were Tanypodinae, Diamesinae, Prodiamesinae, Orthocladiinae and Chironominae. Most of the species were cited as widely distributed in the Palearctic region with few Mediterranean (6), Afrotropical (19) or Panpaleotropical (3) species. The list also included five species previously considered Nearctic. An updated list was thereafter prepared and the number of species raised to 391. Species new to science were added in the following years further raising the number of known species. The list of species known to occur in Italy is now updated to 580, and supported by voucher specimens. Most species have a Palearctic distribution, but many species are distributed in other biogeographical regions; 366 species are in common with the East Palaearctic region, 281 with the Near East, 248 with North Africa, 213 with the Nearctic, 104 with the Oriental, 23 species with the Neotropical, 23 with the Afrotropical, 16 with the Australian region, and 46 species at present are known to occur only in Italy. On the basis of new findings in Italy and in nearby areas it is stated that the knowledge of chironomid fauna is still incomplete.

Highlights

Research on Chironomidae in Italy began in 1900 (Bezzi 1918), but with the exception of a few contributions (Marcuzzi 1949) the study of chironomids in Italy had a substantial progress only after the publication of the identification keys for their aquatic stages, larvae and pupae (Ferrarese and Rossaro 1981, Rossaro 1982a, Ferrarese 1983, Nocentini 1985)
On the basis of new findings in Italy and in nearby areas it is stated that the knowledge of chironomid fauna is still incomplete
Chironomids have represented important contributions in the development of biogeographic theories. They were a critical group in supporting transantarctic relationships (Brundin 1966), but the lack of knowledge and uncertain information from large areas suggests caution in drawing conclusions about the significance of their distributions

Summary

Introduction

Research on Chironomidae in Italy began in 1900 (Bezzi 1918), but with the exception of a few contributions (Marcuzzi 1949) the study of chironomids in Italy had a substantial progress only after the publication of the identification keys for their aquatic stages, larvae and pupae (Ferrarese and Rossaro 1981, Rossaro 1982a, Ferrarese 1983, Nocentini 1985). Thereafter an updated list of species (Boormann et al 1995, Ferrarese and Rossaro 2001) had been made available on the website of the Checklist of the Italian Fauna (URL 1), but since its publication, the information present in this website has not been updated. The distribution of chironomids in running waters (Rossaro et al 2006) and in glacial areas (Rossaro et al 2016) gave other contributions to the knowledge of Italian fauna. A very long list of species is to be expected and this is the case, at present the continuous progress suggests that chironomid knowledge is still very incomplete in Italy, as is in other regions including the relatively well studied West Palaearctic area

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