Sistemática de Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) associados a esponjas de água doce.

The first reports of Chironomidae in sponges date from the beginning of the 20 th century, beginning with Xenochironomus Kieffer and Demeijerea Kruseman in North America. Since then, few species in these genera have been described and it was not until 2004 that a species in another genus (Oukuriella Epler) was reported as having larvae living in freshwater sponges in the Neotropical region. In this study, we review current knowledge of Chironomidae in freshwater sponges and add new taxonomic and ecological information on these insects. In Brazil, only two genera have so far been observed in association with freshwater sponges: Xenochironomus and Oukuriella. The first of these genera has a world-wide distribution and had many species with deficient descriptions, with some of the species never having been illustrated. In this study, a revision of the recognized species in this genus was made, including re-description of several species and the description of six new species* (X. etiopensis sp. n., X. amazonensis sp. n., X. grini sp. n., X. mendesi sp. n., X. alaidae sp. n., X. martini sp. n.). Oukuriella has species with larvae associated with the sponges or with logs, and this genus was collected frequently during the course of this study. As a result, six new species* in this genus are described for Brazil (O. matogrossensis sp. n., O. digita sp. n., O. minima sp. n., O. baiana sp. n., O. rimamplusa sp. n., O. pinhoi sp. n.). Since some of the described species had larvae associated with freshwater sponges, a phylogenetic analysis was carried out to test the hypothesis that species that inhabit sponges constitute a monophyletic group. The species whose larvae inhabit sponges were grouped together, but challenges still remain to better understand the relations among the species in this genus. Among these challenges are the lack of knowledge of all life- history stages, especially the immatures, and the difficulty of obtaining specimens and determining the association with sponges because rearing the immatures under laboratory conditions is difficult.Os primeiros registros da associação entre Chironomidae e esponjas datam do inicio do século XX com Xenochironomus Kieffer e Demeijerea Kruseman na América do Norte. Desde então, poucas espécies desses gêneros foram descritas e somente nos últimos seis anos, espécies de outro gênero, Oukuriella Epler, foram relatadas como habitantes de esponjas de água doce, na região Neotropical. Neste trabalho, apresentamos uma revisão do conhecimento sobre Chironomidae em esponjas de água doce e adicionamos novas informações taxonômicas e ecológicas sobre esses insetos. No Brasil, até o momento, apenas dois gêneros foram observados em associação com esponjas de água doce, Xenochironomus e Oukuriella. O primeiro gênero tem distribuição mundial e apresentava diversas espécies com descrições deficientes, sendo que algumas delas nunca haviam sido ilustradas. Nesse estudo, foi feita uma revisão das espécies reconhecidas nesse gênero, incluindo redescrições de algumas delas e a descrição de seis espécies novas* (Xenochironomus etiopensis sp. n., X. amazonensis sp. n., X. grini sp. n., X. mendesi sp. n., X. alaidae sp. n. e X. martini sp. n.). Oukuriella apresenta espécies com larvas associadas a esponjas ou a troncos e, foi coletado com freqüência durante o desenvolvimento desse estudo. Como resultado, seis espécies novas* desse gênero foram descritas para o Brasil (Oukuriella matogrossensis sp. n., O. digita sp. n., O. minima sp. n., O. baiana sp. n., O. rimamplusa sp. n., O. pinhoi sp. n.). Como algumas das espécies descritas apresentaram larvas associadas a esponjas de água doce, foi realizada uma análise filogenética para testar a hipótese que espécies que habitam esponjas comporiam um grupo monofilético. As espécies cujas larvas habitam esponjas foram agrupadas, entretanto, permanecem ainda vários desafios para compreendermos melhor as relações entre as espécies desse gênero. Entre esses desafios, podemos citar a falta de conhecimento sobre todos os estágios de vida, em especial dos imaturos, e a dificuldade de obtenção dos espécimes e de determinar a associação com esponjas, uma vez que a criação desses imaturos em condições de laboratório é difícil

An asiatic chironomid in Brazil: Morphology, DNA barcode and bionomics

In most freshwater ecosystems, aquatic insects are dominant in terms of diversity; however, there is a disproportionately low number of records of alien species when compared to other freshwater organisms. The Chironomidae is one aquatic insect family that includes some examples of alien species around the world. During a study on aquatic insects in Amazonas state (Brazil), we collected specimens of Chironomidae that are similar, at the morphological level, to Chironomus kiiensis Tokunaga and Chironomus striatipennis Kieffer, both with distributions restricted to Asia. The objectives of this study were to provide morphological information on this Chironomus population, to investigate its identity using DNA barcoding and, to provide bionomic information about this species. Chironomus DNA barcode data were obtained from GenBank and Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and, together with our data, were analyzed using the neighbor-joining method with 1000 bootstrap replicates and the genetic distances were estimated using the Kimura-2-parameter. At the morphological level, the Brazilian population cannot be distinguished either from C. striatipennis or C. kiiensis, configuring a species complex but, at the molecular level our studied population is placed in a clade together with C. striatipennis, from South Korea. Bionomic characteristics of the Brazilian Chironomus population differ from the ones of C. kiiensis from Japan, the only species in this species complex with bionomic information available. The Brazilian Chironomus population has a smaller size, the double of the number of eggs and inhabits oligotrophic water, in artificial container. In the molecular analysis, populations of C. striatipennis and C. kiiensis are placed in a clade, formed by two groups: Group A (which includes populations from both named species, from different Asiatic regions and our Brazilian population) and Group B (with populations of C. kiiensis from Japan and South Korea). Genetic distance between the Brazilian population and specimens in Group A suggests that it was recently introduced in Brazil, and that its country of origin is probably South Korea. © Gizelle Amora et al

A new species of Stempellina Thienemann & Bause from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (Diptera, Chironomidae)

A new species of Stempellina Thienemann & Bause from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (Diptera, Chironomidae). The male imago of Stempellina sofiae sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on material collected in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, during the expeditions of the project SISBIOTA Brazil. One of the core focuses of this project is identifying and describing new species of Diptera from central Brazil. The new species herein presented can be easily segregated by their congeneric by the rounded shape of the superior volsella

Review of Xenochironomus Kieffer, 1921 (Diptera: Chironomidae) with description of six new species

The genus Xenochironomus Kieffer is reviewed. Five new species are described from Brazil, X. alaidae, X. amazonensis and X. martini as male; X. grini and X. mendesi as male, pupa and larva, and X. ethiopensis from Ethiopia is described as adult male. X. canterburyensis (Freeman) is redescribed as male, pupa and larva; X. trochanteratus (Thompson), X. trise-tosus (Kieffer), X. ugandae (Goetghebuer) and X. tuberosus Wang as males; notes on X. xenolabis (Kieffer), X. flaviventris (Kieffer), X. longicrus (Kieffer), X. lacertus Dutta et Chaudhuri and X. ceciliae Roque et Trivinho-Strixino are also given. The species X. nigricaudus Hashimoto is recognized as nomen dubium. Keys to males, pupae and larvae are presented. Copyright © 2013 Magnolia Press

Oukuriella pesae, new species of sponge-dwelling chironomid (Insecta: Diptera) from Amazonia, Brazil

The larva, pupa, male and female of a new Neotropical chironomid species, Oukuriella pesae, are described and illustrated. The larvae were found in freshwater sponge colonies of Oncosclera navicella (Carter, 1881) in Amazonian streams. The morphological characteristics of the larval head and the presence of fine particles in the larval gut contents suggest that the larvae probably feed on the sponge tissue or on other animals that live inside the sponges. Oukuriella Epler, 1986 is currently divided into three species groups, but Oukuriella pesae does not fit any of them. Copyright © 2009 · Magnolia Press

Systematics of Oukuriella epler, 1986, including a revision of the species associated with freshwater sponges

Oukuriella has been recorded only in the Neotropical region. Larvae of some species of the genus have associations with freshwater sponges and immersed wood. In this study we performed a phylogenetic analysis to test the hypothesis that species that inhabit freshwater sponges form a monophyletic group. Including the six species described here, the number of species in the genus now is 21. Our findings do not support the subgroups previously proposed within Oukuriella based on the morphology of adult males. The most parsimonious cladograms obtained indicate that Oukuriella is a monophyletic group and the inhabitants of freshwater sponges form a monophyletic group within Oukuriella. © 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

Oukuriella pesae, new species of sponge-dwelling chironomid (Insecta: Diptera) from Amazonia, Brazil

The larva, pupa, male and female of a new Neotropical chironomid species, Oukuriella pesae, are described and illustrated. The larvae were found in freshwater sponge colonies of Oncosclera navicella (Carter, 1881) in Amazonian streams. The morphological characteristics of the larval head and the presence of fine particles in the larval gut contents suggest that the larvae probably feed on the sponge tissue or on other animals that live inside the sponges. Oukuriella Epler, 1986 is currently divided into three species groups, but Oukuriella pesae does not fit any of them. Copyright © 2009 · Magnolia Press

First record of Sisyridae (Neuroptera) in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with bionomic notes on Sisyra panama

Sisyra panama Parfin & Gurney, 1956 as the first species of the family Sisyridae (Sisyra panama Parfin & Gurney, 1956) is reported for the first time from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Pupae of S. panama developed in 8 days; eggs are covered with a thin layer of silk and, under laboratory conditions, hatch in the morning. After eclosion, first-instars exhibited a peculiar jumping behavior, similar to S. fuscata (Fabricius)