Larva of Glyptotendipes (Glyptotendipes) glaucus (Meigen 1818) (Chironomidae, Diptera)—morphology by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), karyotype, and biology in laboratory conditions

Abstract

Larvae belonging to the family Chironomidae are difficult to identify. The aim of the present study was to describe the larval morphology of G. (G.) glaucus with the aid of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the karyotype and biology based on materials obtained from laboratory culture. Describing the morphology of larvae, special attention was paid to rarely or never described structures like the maxilla (lacinia and maxillary palp), the long plate situated below the ventromental plate, and plate X situated between lacinia and mentum. The use of SEM allowed also to obtain better images of labrum and ventromental plate. Morphological features of this species have been supplemented by karyotype and biology of larvae in laboratory conditions. Under controlled experimental conditions we found non-synchronous development of G. (G.) glaucus larvae hatched from one egg mass reflected in different lengths of larvae and emerged imagoes.

Comparison of selected parts of larval morphology in some species of the genus Chironomus (Diptera: Chironomidae) using Scanning Electron Microscope

“…Earlier studies indicate that the SEM method is very useful in the description of morphology of larvae and species differentiation (Sublette, 1979;Kownacki et al, 2015;Kownacki et al, 2016). Our investigation of Chironomus larvae shows that closely related species can be identified on the basis of lacinial chaetae.…”

“…That means that the struc- Morphology of Chironomus larvae using SEM ture of the maxilla will be a key element in the differentiation of genus Chironomini. Plate X (Pl X) in G. glaucus is in the form of a small plate, on the surface densely covered with tiny spikes (Kownacki et al, 2016), while in our studies of Chironomus they are groups of bristles.…”

“…Clear differences were marked in the structure of the maxilla and the labrum between the genus Chironomus and Glyptotendipes (Kownacki et al, 2016). The lower edge of labral lamella in Chironomus ends with very long dagger-shaped appendices, while in Glyptotendipes they are shorter, and blunt at the end.…”

“…Additional information was obtained by calculating the index LCh=LChI/LChII. The information obtained with SEM on the labrum and the maxilla of the Chironomus larvae was compared with Glyptotendipes glaucus larvae (Kownacki et al, 2016).…”

Morphology of the adult male and pupal exuviae of Glyptotendipes (Glyptotendipes) glaucus (Meigen 1818) (Diptera, Chironomidae) using scanning electron microscope (SEM)

“…However, species of the genus Glyptotendipes, especially those that belong to group A (Pinder & Reiss 1986), are very similar and difficult to distinguish with the aid of light microscopy alone. Up to date, there are no descriptions of adults and pupal exuviae using SEM, its importance in morphological studies of Chironomidae has been discussed in detail by Kownacki et al (2015Kownacki et al ( , 2016.…”