Sympotthastia Pagast, 1947

Liu, Wenbin, Ferrington Jr, Leonard C. & Wang, Xinhua, 2016, Sympotthastia wuyiensis sp. n. from China, with description of the immature stages of S. takatensis (Tokunaga) (Diptera, Chironomidae), Zootaxa 4126 (3), pp. 427-434 : 428

Sympotthastia Pagast, 1947

Sympotthastia Pagast, 1947: 457 ; Serra-Tosio 1969: 129; Oliver 1986: 127; 1989: 140; Makarchenko 1994: 51; Ashe & O’Connor 2009: 309; Saether & Andersen 2013: 156.

Type species: Sympotthastia zavreli Pagast, 1947 , by monotypy.

Diagnostic characters: The presence of a spiniferous median volsella, head without inner vertical setae and antepronotum with only ventral-lateral setae will easily differentiate Sympotthastia adults from other genera in the subfamily Diamesinae . The fore and mid leg sheaths directed straight backwards, the tarsal sections of the hind leg sheaths recuved under the wing sheaths, anal lobe with 3 anal macrosetae and with small fringe combined with tergites II-VIII without thorn-like posterior spines will differentiate the pupae from all the other chironomids. The larva of the genus is unique as follows: S I simple, the indistinctly separated second and third antennal segments with the apical part of annulate, median tooth of mentum rounded or bi-lobed, lamellae absent, and premandible with 4 teeth and lateral spine.

Emended diagnosis. Based on the material examined and references, the generic diagnosis of pupa and larva Sympotthastia ( Oliver 1986; 1989; Makarchenko 1994; Epler 2001; Saether & Andersen 2013) must be emended as follows:

Male. Wing length up to 5.25 mm ( S. takatensis (Tokunaga) in China); anal lobe produced or reduced ( S. wuyiensis sp. n.); gonostylus with or without moderately long megaseta ( S. wuyiensis sp. n.).

Pupa. Thoracic horn mostly absent, if present, small and tubercle-like ( S. gemmaformis Makarchenko ). Pc2 simple ( S. macrocera Serra-Tosio ) or branched ( S. gemmaformis Makarchenko & S. takatensis (Tokunaga)) . Segment II-VIII with 4 L setae, L2 simple or branched, sometimes L3 simple ( S. takatensis (Tokunaga)) .

Larva. Medium-large larvae, up to 11 mm in S. takatensis (Tokunaga) ; Mandible with 1 apical tooth and 4 inner tooth, sometimes additional smaller or bigger than first inner tooth (as in S. takatensis (Tokunaga)) .