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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Culicomorpha » Midges (Chironomidae) » Diamesinae
Photo#96108
Winter Midge - female
Copyright © 2007 Stephen Luk

Winter Midge - Female
Camp Ganadaoweh, Ayr, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
February 20, 2007
Size: 6 mm
Flying close to the ground on a calm, warm morning. It looks similar to some of the other midges on the Chironomid page, such as this specimen, and very closely resembles the female at the bottom of this page by the Chironomidae Research Group. So I'm thinking that what we have may be a Diamesa. Any thoughts?

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Winter Midge - female Winter Midge - female
Contributed by Stephen Luk on 22 February, 2007 - 8:53pm
Last updated 3 December, 2008 - 7:20pm

Moved
Moved from Midges.
… tom murray, 3 December, 2008 - 7:20pm

Probably Diamesinae
You are probably right about subfamily. I don't know about genus.

It appears to have R2+3 present and M-Cu intersecting Cu after the fork, which are two of the diagnostic features of Diamesinae. The third is the shape of the tip of the abdomen, which is not visible. The other alternative that depends on the invisible part, according to the key, is Tanypodinae. I don't think it's one of those, because I haven't read about any all-black winter-emerging species. (But note that there is probably a strong correlation between winter emergence and color, so if midges of any family emerge in cold weather they are likely to be black.)

On the middle leg I think I see the widened fourth tarsal segment that is typical of Diamesinae.
… John F. Carr, 13 November, 2008 - 6:06pm

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