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The Cricotopus (Oliveiriella) (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the High Altitude Andean Streams, with Description of a New Species, C. (O.) rieradevallae

  • Systematics, Morphology and Physiology
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Abstract

The genus Oliveiriella (Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) was erected by Wiedenbrug & Fittkau (1997). The adults have characteristic black spots on their wings and other characteristics similar to the genus Cricotopus. Pupal skins are very characteristic with strong short spines in the anal lobe instead of setae, while larvae are distinguishable by the long anal papillae and the intense blue color of their body. However, Andersen et al (2013) consider Oliveiriella as a subgenera of Cricotopus. In this paper, using the sequences of the cox1 gene, we conclude that Oliveiriella should be considered a subgenus within Cricotopus, confirming its status in Andersen et al (2013). Furthermore, we describe Cricotopus (Oliveiriella) rieradevallae Prat & Paggi sp. n. from the Saltana river (Ecuador). The adult males, females, and preimaginal stages of the two species of subgenus Oliveiriella known from South America Cricotopus (O.) almeidai n. comb. from Peru, Brazil, and Argentina and Cricotopus (O.) sanjavieri n. comb. from Argentina are compared with those of Cricotopus (O.) rieradevallae sp. n. from Ecuador. The differences allow the distinction of the three species. The cox1 gene reveals that at least three different undescribed species of the same subgenus are present in the high-altitude tropical Andes. The morphology of the available pupae and pupal exuviae reveals the presence of several morphotypes that are candidates to be described as new species. A key used to distinguish these pupal morphotypes is provided, including the three described species. Additionally, the distribution of the subgenus is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very indebted to our Latin American colleagues that made possible the collection of chironomid larvae in Colombia (Lucimar Gomes, Universidad de Caldas), Ecuador (Andrea Encalada, Maja and Natalia García, Universidad San Francisco de Quito), and Peru (Clorinda Vergara and Javier Huanca, Universidad Nacional Agraria de La Molina). Many other people helped in the field collections, and we thank Carolina Arroyo, Fernanda González, Karla Jiménez, and Manuel Andía for their support. Larvae and pupae of Cricotopus (O.) almeidai were provided by M. Donato and A. Siri and larvae of C. (O.) sanjavieri by E. Tejerina. We thank all of them for the material loaned. Núria Sánchez Millaruelo and Pau Fortuño prepared most of the slides and figures respectively. This paper is a scientific contribution no. 995 of the Instituto de Limnologia “Raúl A. Ringuelet” de la Plata.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Freshwater Ecology and Management Research Group, Dept de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Univ de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    N Prat, R Acosta & M Rieradevall

  2. Instituto de Limnología “Dr. R. A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA, CONICET, UNLP), La Plata, Argentina

    A Paggi

  3. Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRbio), Dept de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Univ de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    C Ribera

  4. Unidad de Biotecnología y Medio Ambiente (BIOMA), Facultad de Ingenierías y Ciencias Agropecuarias (FICA), Ingeniería Ambiental, Univ de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador

    B Ríos-Touma & C Villamarín

  5. Research Group GEBIOME, Depto de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Univ de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia

    F Rivera & P Ossa

Authors
  1. N Prat
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  2. A Paggi
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  3. C Ribera
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  4. R Acosta
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  5. B Ríos-Touma
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  6. C Villamarín
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  7. F Rivera
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  8. P Ossa
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  9. M Rieradevall
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to N Prat.

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Edited by Ranyse B Querino – Embrapa

M Rieradevall is deceased

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Prat, N., Paggi, A., Ribera, C. et al. The Cricotopus (Oliveiriella) (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the High Altitude Andean Streams, with Description of a New Species, C. (O.) rieradevallae . Neotrop Entomol 47, 256–270 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0548-5

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