XIV.—Chironomid Larvæ of the Millport Shore Pools

Abstract

Chironomid larvæ for a long time have been known to inhabit the brackish pools around the coast, but there are few published records of their life-histories and habits, and in many cases they cannot be correlated with their imagines. This applies equally to the fresh-water types.The greater part of the systematic work on the Chironomidæ deals with the imagines, and much confusion exists regarding the nomenclature of species, which most authorities admit cannot be rectified until the early stages have been recorded.The first description of a marine Chironomid larva was given by Johnston (1830), who described it erroneously as a worm under the name of Campontia erusciformis. Miall and Hammond (1900) give a good account of the life-history and habits of Chironomus dorsalis Mg., and several authors, notably Lenz (1921), Goetghebuer (1927–8–32), Thienemann (1938), and Malloch (1915), have reared some imagines from the larvae, but a very great amount of work has still to be done. Lenz (1921) has attempted to bring some order into the early stages and gives a systematic key to the genera for larvæ and pupæ, but no systematic key exists at present for the distinguishing of species.