Diamesa (Diamesa) vaillanti Serra-Tosio, 1972

Bitušík, Peter, Novikmec, Milan, Svitok, Marek & Hamerlík, Ladislav, 2024, New faunistic records of chironomids and phantom midges (Diptera, Chironomidae and Chaoboridae) from Ukraine indicate recent climatic refugia in the Eastern Carpathians, ZooKeys 1211, pp. 349-367 : 349-367

Diamesa (Diamesa) vaillanti Serra-Tosio, 1972

Material examined.

1 pupal exuvium, Rypenka river (S 7), 7 May 2018 .

Distribution.

Palaearctic: Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Morocco ( Ashe and O’Connor 2009), and Azerbaijan ( Kownacki 1985).

Habitat.

Rheophilic species inhabiting high-altitude springs, streams (including glacier-fed), and rivers with rocky bottoms, but also alpine lakes ( Bitušík 2004; Lencioni et al. 2011; Rossaro and Lencioni 2015). The species is cold-stenothermal (e. g., Rossaro 1991) although the findings from streams in the High Atlas indicate that it can tolerate relatively high temperatures of up to 22 ° C ( Azzouzi et al. 1992).

Remarks.

The occurrence of the species is limited to waters at high altitudes. Since our record is from 448 m a. s. l., our finding is exceptional.