Kingdom Animalia Order Diptera Infraorder Culicomorpha Scientific name Antillocladius Rank Genus | Phylum Arthropoda Suborder Nematocera Superfamily Chironomoidea Higher classification Orthocladiinae | |
Similar Non‑biting midges, Fly, Orthocladiinae, Insect | ||
Antillocladius is a genus of midges belonging to the family Chironomidae, subfamily Orthocladiinae. The name Antillocladius means orthoclad (subfamily Orthocladiinae) that occurs in the Antilles, where it was primarily recorded.
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Distribution
The genus Antillocladius is distributed in the Nearctic, Neotropical, Palaearctic (East Asia) and Indomalayan ecozones. The genus was erected by Sæther (1981) based on A. antecalvus Sæther, 1981, from the British West Indies: Saint Vincent and Saint Lucia. Subsequently, Sæther (1982) described two new species from the southeastern United States (Antillocladius arcuatus and Antillocladius pluspilalus) and emended the genus. Wang and Sæther (1993) described two additional new species from Palaearctic and Oriental China. Andersen and Contreras-Ramos (1999) described the first species from Continental South America (Ecuador). The genus was revised by Mendes, Andersen & Sæther (2004), with the addition of nine species, plus two Japanese species transferred to the genus (Yamamoto, 2004). Recently the genus was revised by Mendes & Andersen (2008) with the addition of 7 new species from Brazil and a new combination of a species from India. The genus thus comprises:
Species
Characteristics
The species are based on male genitalia characters and only two females are described, A. musci and A. antecalvus. The pupae are known of only four species, A. antecalvus, A. folius, A. musci and A. pluspilalus. The larvae are known of only three species, A. folius, A. musci and A. pluspilalus.
The immatures of the genus are described from terrestrial and semi-terrestrial habitats, sharing the environment with many other genera in the subfamily Orthocladiinae.