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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Mosquitoes and Midges (Culicomorpha) » Non-biting Midges (Chironomidae) » Chironominae » Chironomini
Photo#11754
Midge? - male
Copyright © 2005 Jay Barnes

Midge? - Male
Licking County, Ohio, USA
August 21, 2004
This one has been bugging me for awhile. It was originally identified by me as a saltmarsh mosquito, using a field guide that contained all of two midges. I'm slightly more experienced now, but still not sure what this is.

I believe it's a Chironomus midge. Can anyone confirm this and suggest a species ID?

Body was very long, at least 1/2". Fairly common. They perched conspicuously on leaves, grasses and near flowers.

Images of this individual: tag all
Midge? - male Midge? - male
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Contributed by Jay Barnes on 21 February, 2005 - 8:19pm
Last updated 9 September, 2009 - 6:00pm

Moved
Moved from Chironominae.
… John F. Carr, 9 September, 2009 - 6:00pm login or register to post comments

Size
As far as I can tell there are only three genera of Chironominae that exceed a wing length of 6 mm: Axarus, Chironomus, and Glyptotendipes. But I have noticed a tendency to overestimate sizes. A half inch is unusually large even for the largest midge, Chironomus plumosus. ("Large specimens reach a wing length of 7.5 mm and in the male, a body length of 13 mm." according to Townes' review of the tribe Chironomini.)
… John F. Carr, 20 December, 2008 - 5:24pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Midges.
… Jay Barnes, 17 November, 2008 - 9:19am login or register to post comments

Chironominae
Wing veins are used for ID of midges to subfamily and sometimes tribe, but the front legs of subfamily Chironominae are distinctive combined with the lack of evidence to the contrary in what I can see of the wings.

ID to species is sometimes literally impossible by external examination. Many species of Chironomus are separated by chromosome patterns.
… John F. Carr, 15 November, 2008 - 7:43pm login or register to post comments

nice shot!
Did you ever find out any more info?
I see these on the undersides of leaves, especially during the rain this spring. Some have the "fuzzy" antennae, some don't..Male/Female?
Wonderful detail in your picture.
BTW: I live in Northern California.

@Ķąŧħ@
… Kathleen O'Connor, 27 May, 2005 - 2:11am login or register to post comments

 
Well...
Well, I'm pretty sure it got moved to here from the "ID Request" area by a moderator, so it looks like I was correct on the Midge ID.
… Jay Barnes, 27 May, 2005 - 8:41am login or register to post comments

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