NEMATOCERA, Culicomorpha, Chironomoidea

Number of British species: 3

Size: S

Difficulty: 2

Small (3-5 mm), delicate, yellow to orange or dark brown, lustrous Nematocera; upper side of thorax often with a U-shaped colour pattern. Eyes holoptic in both sexes; ocelli absent; antenna short and directed forward, with 12 segments, tapering to its tip. Wing clear, with brown tinge and relatively broad. Legs short and slender, tibiae without apical bristles or spurs.

The larvae and pupae are found in unpolluted aquatic environments, usually in shaded, hilly or mountain areas. The larvae live in the water film of streams and splash zones of springs, banks, rocks and other objects protruding from the water, holding to the substratum with thoracic and abdominal pseudopodia. They feed on vegetable debris and diatoms. The adults are clumsy fliers and are generally found near the larval habitats.

Disney (1999a)