Abstract
In this study, we describe Metriocnemus erythranthei sp. nov. and Limnophyes viribus sp. nov., leafminers of herbaceous wetland plants. The M. erythranthei larva is a true miner entering fresh leaves and excavating the tunnels, and the L. viribus larva inhabits vacated mines of M. erythranthei. M. erythranthei is widespread in North America, with collections from the Pacific coast to Pennsylvania, and L. viribus has been collected from Iowa and Oregon. We also describe the larva of a possible new species associated with these plants, which we refer to as Metriocnemus sp. “Oregon”. A key to the known larval stages of North American Metriocnemus is also provided.
Along with providing a detailed account of the mining ecology of these new species, we discuss additional observations of mostly Orthocladiinae midges associated with aquatic and terrestrial plants. These include documenting the rearing of Metriocnemus eurynotus (Holmgren, 1883) from larvae feeding on Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) cotyledons, initially as leafminers and later externally. Larvae of M. eurynotus also were found feeding within mines of M. erythranthei on Veronica (Plantaginaceae) and were collected along with M. erythranthei larvae on leaves of Petasites (Asteraceae).
References
Andersen, T., Sæther, O.A., Cranston, P.S. & Epler, J.H. (2013) The Larvae of Holarctic Orthocladiinae. In: Andersen, T., Cranston, P.S. & Epler, J.H. (Eds.), Chironomidae of the Holarctic Region: keys and diagnoses: larvae. Insect Systematics & Evolution Supplement No. 66. Entomologica Scandinavica, Lund, pp. 189–386.
Anderson, N.H. (1989) Xylophagous Chironomidae from Oregon streams. Aquatic Insects, 11, 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650428909361345
Ashe, P. & O’Connor, J.P. (2009) A world catalogue of Chironomidae (Diptera). Part 1 & 2. Buchonomyiinae, Chilenomyiinae, Podonominae, Aphroteniinae, Tanypodinae, Usambaromyiinae, Diamesinae, Prodiamesinae and Telmatogetoninae. Irish Biogeographical Society, Dublin, 968 pp.
Balci, P. & Kennedy, J.H. (2003) Comparison of chironomids and other macroinvertebrates associated with Myriophyllum spicatum and Heteranthera dubia. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 18, 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2003.9664490
Benavent-Corai, J., Martinez, M. & Jiménez Peydró, R. (2005) Catalogue of the host plants of the world Agromyzidae (Diptera). Bollettino di Zoologica Agraria e di Bachicoltura, Series II, 37, 1–97.
Berg, C.O. (1949) Limnological relations of insects to plants of the genus Potamogeton. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 68, 279–291. https://doi.org/10.2307/3223270
Berg, C.O. (1950) Biology of certain Chironomidae reared from Potamogeton. Ecological Monographs, 20, 83–101. https://doi.org/10.2307/1943546
Bland, K.O. (1994) Some leaf-mining Diptera from North Uist, Outer Hebrides. The Glasgow Naturalist, 22, 385–387.
Bland, K. & Rotheray, G. (1994) The distribution and biology of two leaf-mining species of Cricotopus (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Scotland. Dipterists Digest, Series 2, 1, 34–36.
Borkent, A. (1984) Systematics of the Stenochironomus complex. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 128, 1–269.
Brock, E.M. (1960) Mutualism between the midge Cricotopus and the alga Nostoc. Ecology, 41, 474–483. https://doi.org/10.2307/1933322
Buffington, J.D. (1970) Ecological considerations of the cohabitation of pitcher plants by Wyeomyia smithii and Metriocnemus knabi. Mosquito News, 30, 89–90.
Coffman, W.P., Cranston, P.S., Oliver, D.R. & Sæther, O.A. (1986) Keys and diagnoses of the pupae of the subfamily Orthocladiinae (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Holarctic region. In: Widerholm, T. (Ed.), Chironomidae of the Holarctic Region Keys and diagnosis. Part 2. Pupae. Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement 28. Entomologica Scandinavica, Lund, pp. 147–296.
Connor, E.F. & Taverner, M.P. (1997) The evolution and adaptive significance of the leaf-mining habit. Oikos, 79 (1), 6–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546085
Cranston, P.S. (1982) A key to the larvae of the British Orthocladiinae (Chironomidae). Freshwater biological association scientific publication, 45, 1–152.
Cranston, P.S. (2000) Austrobrillia Freeman: immature stages, and new species from the Neotropics (Insecta, Diptera, Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae). Spixiana, 23, 101–111.
Cranston, P.S. (2003) The oriental genus Shangomyia Sæther & Wang (Chironomidae: Diptera): immature stages, biology, putative relationships and the evolution of wood mining in chironomid larvae. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 51, 179–186.
Cranston, P.S. & Hardwick, R. (1996) The immature stages and phylogeny of Imparipecten Freeman, an Australian endemic genus of woodmining chironomid (Diptera). Aquatic Insects, 18, 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650429609361623
Cranston, P.S. & Judd, D.D. (1987) Metriocnemus (Diptera: Chironomidae): an ecological survey and description of a new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 95, 534–546.
Cranston, P.S. & Oliver, D.R. (1988) Aquatic xylophagous Orthocladiinae—systematics and ecology (Diptera: Chironomidae). Spixiana Supplement, 14, 143–154.
de la Rosa, C.L. & Nastase, A.J. (1987) Larvae of Metriocnemus cf. fuscipes, Limnophyes sp., Pentaneurini (Diptera: Chironomidae) and Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from pitcher plants, Sarracenia purpurea. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 60, 339–341.
Dodds, W.K. & Marra, J.L. (1989) Behaviors of the midge, Cricotopus (Diptera: Chironomidae) related to Mutualism with Nostocparmelioides (Cyanobacteria). Aquatic Insects, 11, 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650428909361372
Donato, M. & Paggi, A.C. (2005) A new Neotropical species of the genus Metriocnemus van der Wulp (Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae) from Eryngium L. (Apiaceae) phytotelmata. Zootaxa 1050, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1050.1.1
Donato, M. & Siri, A. (2010) A new species of Metriocnemus van der Wulp (Diptera: Chironomidae) with a tentative phylogeny of the genus. Neotropical Entomology 39, 50–60. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-566X2010000100008
Edwards, F.W. (1929) British non-biting midges (Diptera, Chironomidae). Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 77, 279–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1929.tb00692.x
Eiseman, C. (2022) Leafminers of North America. Privately published e-book, clxvii+2213 pp. Available from: http://charleyeiseman.com/leafminers (accessed 9 January 2023)
Eiseman, C.S., Heller, K. & Rulik, B. (2016) A new leaf-mining dark-winged fungus gnat (Diptera: Sciaridae), with notes on other insect associates of marsh marigold (Ranunculaceae: Caltha palustris L.). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 118, 519–532. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.118.4.519
Epler, J.H. (2001) Identification manual for the larval Chironomidae (Diptera) of North and South Carolina. A guide to the taxonomy of the midges of the southeastern United States including Florida. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Water Quality, St. Johns River Water Management District, Palatka, Florida, iv + 530 pp.
Ferrington, L.C. (2008) Global diversity of non-biting midges (Chironomidae; Insecta-Diptera) in freshwater. In: Balian, E.V., Lévêque, C., Segers, H. & Martens, K. (Eds.), Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 447–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9130-1
Fish, D. (1983) Phytotelmata: flora and fauna. In: Frank, J.H. & Lounibos, L.P. (Eds.), Phytotelmata: Terrestrial Plants as Hosts for Aquatic Insect Communities. Plexus Publishing, Medford, New Jersey, pp. 1–27.
Grodhaus, G. & Rotramel, G.L. (1980) Immature stages of Polypedilum pedatum excelsius (Diptera: Chironomidae) from seasonally flooded treeholes. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica, 1978, 69–76.
Hering, E.M. (1951) Biology of the Leaf Miners. W. Junk, The Hague, 420 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7196-8
Heyn, M.W. (1992) A review of the systematic position of the North American species of the genus Glyptotendipes. Netherlands Journal of Aquatic Ecology, 26, 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02255233
Hoffmann, A. & Hering, D. (2000) Wood-associated macroinvertebrate fauna in Central European streams. International Review of Hydrobiology, 85, 25–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1522-2632(200003)85:1<25::AID-IROH25>3.0.CO;2-R
Kaufman, M.G. & King, R.H. (1987) Colonization of wood substrates by the aquatic xylophage Xylotopus par (Diptera: Chironomidae) and a description of its life history. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 65, 2280–2286. https://doi.org/10.1139/z87-345
Langton, P. & Cobo, F. (1997) Metriocnemus (Inermipupa) carmencitabertarum subgen. n., sp. n. L. (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Spain and Portugal. Entomologists Gazette, 48, 263–274.
Leathers, A.L. (1922) Ecological study of aquatic midges and some related insects with special reference to feeding habits. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, 38, 1–61.
Li, X. & Wang, X. (2014) New species and records of Metriocnemus van der Wulp s. str. from China (Diptera, Chironomidae). ZooKeys, 387, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.387.6408
Maschwitz, D.E. & Cook, E.F. (2000) Revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Polypedilum Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the subgenera P. (Polypedilum) Kieffer and P. (Uresipedilum) Oyewo and Sæther. Bulletin of the Ohio Biological Survey, New Series, 12, 1–135.
Oatman, E.R. (1959) Host range studies of the melon leaf miner, Liriomyza pictella (Thomson) (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 52, 739–741. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/52.6.739
Orendt, C. & Bendt, Th. (2021) Orthocladiinae sensu lato (Orthocladiinae, Prodiamesinae, Diamesinae, Podonominae, Buchonomyiinae, Telmatogetoninae) (Diptera: Chironomidae). Keys to Central European larvae with respect to macroscopic characters. DGL-Arbeitshilfe (DGL Tools) 1-2021. German Limnological Society (DGL) e. V., Essen, 140 pp.
Patch, E.M. (1917) An infestation of potatoes by a midge. Journal of Economic Entomology, 10, 472–473. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/10.5.472
Picado, C. (1913) Les Broméliacées épiphytes considérées comme milieu biologique. Bulletin Scientifique de la France et de la Belgique, 47, 215–360.
Pinder, L.C.V. (1995) The habitats of chironomid larvae. In: Armitage, P., Cranston, P.S. & Pinder, L.C.V. (Eds.), The Chironomidae: The biology and ecology of non-biting midges. Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 106–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0715-0_6
POWO (2022) Plants of the world online. Available from: http://plantsoftheworldonline.org (accessed 30 April 2022)
Pschorn-Walcher, H. & Altenhofer, E. (1989) The parasitoid community of leaf-mining sawflies (Fenusini and Heterarthrini): a comparative analysis. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 222, 37–56.
Sæther, O.A. (1977) Female genitalia in Chironomidae and other Nematocera: morphology, phylogenies, keys. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 197, 1–220.
Sæther, O.A. (1980) Glossary of chironomid morphology terminology (Diptera: Chironomidae). Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement, 14, 1–51
Sæther, O.A. (1989) Metriocnemus van der Wulp: a new species and a revision of species described by Meigen, Zetterstedt, Stæger, Holmgren, Lundström and Strenzke (Diptera: Chironomidae). Insect Systematics & Evolution, 19, 393–430. https://doi.org/10.1163/187631289X00528
Sæther, O.A. (1995) Metriocnemus van der Wulp: Seven new species, revision of species, and new records (Diptera: Chironomidae). Annales de Limnologie-International Journal of Limnology, 31, 35–64. https://doi.org/10.1051/limn/1995002
Sæther, O.A. & Wang, X. (1995) Revision of the genus Paraphaenocladius Thienemann, 1924 of the world (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae). Entomologica scandinavica Supplement, 48, 3–69.
Siri, A., Donato, M. & Paggi, A.C. (2008) New phytotelmic habitat of Metriocnemus eryngiotelmatus (Diptera: Chironomidae). Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina, 67 (3–4), 113–115.
Som, D.K., Das, N. & Hazra, N. (2013) Systematics and Biology of Metriocnemus clarivirgulus sp. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Darjeeling, India with revised keys to male and female adults of Metriocnemus van der Wulp. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 60, 111–121.
Spencer, K.A. (1990) Host specialization in the world Agromyzidae (Diptera). Series entomologica, 45, i–xii + 1–444. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1874-0
Sublette, J.E., Stevens, L.E. & Shannon, J.P. (1998) Chironomidae (Diptera) of the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, I: systematics and ecology. The Great Basin Naturalist, 58, 97–146. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.12137
Wirth, W.W. (1957) The species of Cricotopus midges living in the blue-green alga Nostoc in California (Diptera: Tendipedidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 33, 121–126.