PhDThe relationships and subfamilial classification of the
Chironomidae (Insecta: iptera, ematocera) are discussed and some
comments made on the ecological significance of the range of larval
habitats found in the family. The reasons are given for the
selection of the aquatic larval Orthocladiinae for detailed
morphological and ecological study.
Following a review of previous taxonomic works and an analysis
of the current views on the Orthocladiinae, a method for rearing
aquatic larval Chironomidae is described. This method utilises
disposable petri-dishes each containing a single larva, kept in
a cooled incubator. This is followed by a list of fifty-two
collecting sites throughout Britain with some physical and
biological data for each site.
Keys for the identification of the larvae of all known
Holarotic genera are presented based on reared British material
and incorporating published descriptions and examination of
overseas specimens. Generic diagnoses to forty-one British
genera of Orthocladiinae and descriptions and keys to ninety-one
aquatic species are given. These have been prepared from
examination of about 1,230 specimens, reared, collected and sent
by correspondents. For each genus the relationships and
phylogeny are discussed and for each species a full description
is given using morphological terminology outlined in a previous
chapter. Over four hundred illustrations in seventy-nine plates
show the features of each species, many for the first time.
Under each species all available ecological and
distributional information is given. Eleven species either
cannot be associated with adults or else appear to belong to
undescribed species.
In a concluding chapter the relationship between the
phylogeny and ecology of the subfamily is discussed incorporating
additionally information about genera with terrestrial and
marine larvae. The importance of species identification
especially for indicator organisms in pollution biology, as
well as for calculations of diversity in freshwater habitats,
is stressed
