Numbers
Six North American species; eight more in Palaearctic region
Identification
Larvae aquatic, attached to stones in streams, with seven pairs of stout prolegs and long antennae.
Adults with very broad wings, male with antennae much longer than body.
Range
Western North America; Palaearctic region
Habitat
"Deuterophlebiids generally are considered stenobionts, requiring cold, mountains treams; however, many species inhabit a diversity of stream types, from small, high-gradient creeks to large, low-gradient rivers. The immature stages of all species are restricted to riffle habiats where current velocities typically exceed 1 m/s." (Courtney, 1991)
Food
Lacking mouths, adults do not feed.
Life Cycle
Larvae aquatic. Adults individually very short lived but emerging over a long period (at least in some populations); 1 to 4 generations per year. Some populations are parthenogenetic.
Remarks
According to Turner et. al. the adults are only fly in the morning. (~8:30am-9:30am in north central Idaho.)
Print References
Arnaud,P. H. (1974). Collection of adult
Deuterophlebia coloradensis Pennak at Boulder Falls, Colorado (Diptera:Deuterophlebiidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 50:94-95. (
Full Text)
Babcock, J. M. (1985). An Alaskan record for mountain midges (Diptera:Deuterophlebiidae) with notes on larval habitat. Entomological News 96:209-210. (
Full Text)
Courtney, G. W. (1990). Revision of Nearctic mountain midges (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae). Journal of Natural History 24:81-118. (
Abstract)
Courtney, G. W. (1991). Life History Patterns of Nearctic Mountain Midges (Diptera:Deuterophlebiidae). Journal of the North American Benthological Society 10(2):177-197 (
JSTOR)
Edwards, F. W. (1922).
Deuterophlebia mirabilis, gen. et sp. n., a remarkable dipterous insect from Kashmir. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9: 379-387. (
Full Text and accompanying
Plate VI)
Kennedy, H. D. (1958). Biology and Life History of a New Species of Mountain Midge,
Deuterophlebia nielsoni, from Eastern California (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 77(2), 201–228. (
JSTOR)
Kennedy, H. D. (1960).
Deuterophlebia inyoensis, a New Species of Mountain Midge from the Alpine Zone of the Sierra Nevada Range, California (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 79(2):191-210. (
JSTOR)
[includes key to pupae]
Muttkowski, R. A. (1927). A new and unusual insect record for North America (Diptera:Deuterophlebiidae). Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 22:245-249. (
Full Text)
Pennak, R. W. (1945). Notes on mountain midges (Deuterophlebiidae) with a description of the immature stages of a new species from Colorado. American Museum Noviataes 1276:1-10. (
Full Text)
Pennak, R. W. (1950). First record of adult mountain midges from North America (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae). Ent. News, 61: 36. (
Full Text)
Pennak, R. W. (1951). Description of the imago of the mountain midge
Deuterophlebia coloradensis Pennak (Diptera, Deuterophlebiidae). American Museum Noviataes 1534:1-11. (
Full Text)
Shewell, G. E. (1954) First record of the family Deuterophlebiidae in Canada (Diptera). Can. Entomol., 86:204–206.
Turner, W. J., Babcock, J. M., & Jenkins, J. (1986). New record and first observations of adult flight activity for
Deuterophlebia coloradensis Pennak (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae) in Idaho. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 62(2):111-118. (
Full Text)
Wirth, W. W. (1951). A new mountain midge from California (Diptera:Deuterophlebiidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 27:49-57. (
Full Text)
