Cryptochironomus Kieffer, 1918

Namayandeh, Armin, Hudson, Patrick L., Bogan, Daniel L. & Hudson, John P., 2024, Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) of Alaska, USA, with descriptions of new species and a checklist, Zootaxa 5511 (1), pp. 1-95 : 77-78

Cryptochironomus Kieffer, 1918

Cryptochironomus psittacinus (Meigen, 1830) , collected from St. Paul and St. George Islands, is the only species recorded from Alaska ( Townes 1945). Sikes et al. (2016) reported Cryptochironomus stylifera Johannsen, 1908 from St. Matthew Island. However, Townes (1945) noted this species as a synonym of C. psittacinus . Saether (1977, 2009) questioned this synonymy and suggested that Townes’ North American specimens of C. psittacinus were not identical to those in Europe and instead were identical to Cryptochironomus redekei (Kruseman, 1933) and, therefore, a junior synonym of C. stylifera . Since Cryptochironmus taxonomy is still poorly developed, we note only the occurrence of C. psittacinus in Alaska until the revision of the genus using both morphological and molecular methods.

The low diversity of Cryptochironmus species in Arctic and subarctic habitats can be related to inadequacy of sampling in northern regions. For instance, Namayandeh & Beresford (2022), only found three species in Far Northern Ontario in comparison to nine reported from Southeastern United States by Hudson et al. (1990) and eight from western Lake Erie by Failla et al. (2015). Butler et al. (1980) and Lougheed et al. (2011) reported unknown Cryptochironomus larvae from the tundra ponds near Utqiagvik. Unknown species of this genus are reported in Arctos (2023), including several small lakes and streams in the Arctic Coastal Plain, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and an unnamed lake near Scottie Creek. We have larval records from Bob’s Lake on Prince of Wales Island, the Yukon River, and Meadow Creek in the Mat-Su Valley. Cryptochironomus larvae occur in a wide variety of habitats. Morozova (2000) mentions C. psittacinus and C. redekei larvae are obligate predators, which is probably true of all the other species (see Berg 1995).