Psectrocladius (s.s.) vernalis (Malloch, 1915), 1906

Eiseman, Charles S., Namayandeh, Armin, Linden, John Van Der & Palmer, Michael W., 2023, Metriocnemus erythranthei sp. nov. and Limnophyes viribus sp. nov. (Diptera: Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae): leafminers of monkeyflowers, speedwells, and other herbaceous plants, with new observations on the ecology and habitats of other leaf-mining Chironomidae, Zootaxa 5249 (1), pp. 41-68 : 62

Psectrocladius (s.s.) vernalis (Malloch, 1915)

Material examined. USA: IOWA: Winneshiek Co., Decorah, Van Peenan Spring at Van Peenan Park, 43.312834, -91.776010, 17.v.2022, em. 22.v.2022, J. van der Linden, ex Veronica sp. (1Ô, USNM) .

Biological notes. The rearing container in which this specimen emerged included a single mined Veronica leaf inhabited by multiple Metriocnemus erythranthei larvae and one or two M. eurynotus larvae. The photographed M. eurynotus larva ( Fig. 12a ) exited the mine a short time later and began wandering on the leaf surface; it was later preserved. A second unmined Veronica leaf containing no larvae was added to the container at one point, and the M. erythranthei larvae began mining it after exiting their original leaf. The Psectrocladius vernalis male emerged five days after the original mined leaf was collected, along with a male of M. erythranthei . It would seem that it was one of the larvae feeding together in the mine and was not recognized as distinct from the M. erythranthei larvae. Larvae of P. vernalis have been found to live on the surfaces of submerged plants, including Eurasian milfoil ( Haloragaceae : Myriophyllum spicatum L.) and native water stargrass ( Pontederiaceae : Heteranthera dubia (Jacq.) MacMill. ), but their habits were not observed ( Balci & Kennedy 2003).

Figures

FIGURE 12. Secondary inhabitants in leaf mines of Metriocnemus erythranthei on Veronica sp. a., larva of M. eurynotus (upper left) and two larvae of M. erythranthei (center and upper right); b., larva of Limnophyes sp. (prob. L. viribus) (lower left) in vacated mine.