The 4th stage larva and pupa of Purudusyhhrlru minutu Wirth and Lee are described and their relationships with immatures of other ceratopogonids discussed. Paradusyhelea Macfie is most closely related to Culicoides Latreille. The distribution of antennal sensory pits is given for both sexes.
IntroductionThe original description of Purudusyheleu miriuta Wirth and Lee, 1959 included an account of the generic pupal characters, brief notes on specific pupal features and simplified illustrations of the prothoracic horn and caudal segment. No information was provided on the larval stage.Larvae of P. minutn were obtained during work on immature stages of CulicoideJ Latreille, and were considered to be Culicoides. Their identity was revealed by rearing some to adults. This material provided an opportunity to describe the larva of P. minuta, and to consider the taxonomic relationships of the genus Paradasyhelea Macfie on the evidence offered by the immature stages.Material was obtained from 2 locations: Highvale, 20 km WNW of Brisbane, and the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane. At both locations, P. miiiutu was associated with C. austropalpalis Lee and Reye and C . narrabeenensis Lee and Reye, and, at Highvale, with C. rictoriae Macfie. At Highvale, larvae of P. miriuta were recovered from a narrow drainage channel at the bottom of a small valley, and, at St. Lucia, from the grassy, muddy margin of the University Lake. Extended observations. to be reported in a later paper, have been made on the distribution of larvae of P. m i n i m at the University Lake. Larvae occurred within 75 cm of the water's edge on the landward side.Terminology of the larva and pupa follows Kettle and Elson (in press). Wirth and Lee (1959) stated in their diagnosis of Paradasyhelea that there were "very small, distal sensory pits surrounded by fine hairs" on some of antennal segments 3-10 in the female, but did not indicate where they were in P. minuta. Their distribution is now recorded.