Species Polypedilum (Polypedilum) nubifer (Skuse, 1889)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Chironomus nubifer Skuse, F.A.A. 1889. Diptera of Australia. Part VI.—The Chironomidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 4: 215-311 [249] [After submission of the text on Chironomidae for a regional catalogue of the Diptera (Cranston & Martin, 1989), the entry for the species name nubifer was emended to nubiferum, presumably to match the neuter gender of the genus name Polypedilum. Although this change was followed subsequently in the Australian regional catalogue (Bugledich et al., 1999), it has since been rejected as an unjustified emendation – see ICZN Art. 32.2.2. The correct valid species name stands as nubifer].

  Type data:

   Lectotype ANIC(MMUS) ♂ adult, Berowra, NSW.
  Paralectotype(s) ANIC ♂ 9♀ adults (number of specimens in type series not stated in original description).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Freeman, P. 1961. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 9: 611-737 [708].
• Chironomus tripartitus Kieffer, J.J. 1910. Etude sur les chironomides des Indes Orientales, avec description de quelques nouvelles espèces d'Egypte. Memoirs of the Indian Museum 2: 181-242 [231].
• Chironomus ceylanicus Kieffer, J.J. 1911. Description de nouveaux chironomides de l'Indian Museum de Calcutta. Records of the Indian Museum 6: 113-177 [136].
• Polypedilum pelostolum Kieffer, J.J. 1912. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute. Tendipedidae (Dipt.). Supplementa Entomologica 1: 27-43 [41].

  Type data:

   Lectotype DEIC Dip-00019 ♂ slide mounted in Euparal, Berowra, New South Wales.
  Paralectotype(s) DEIC Dip-00018 ♀ slide mounted in Euparal, same locality data as lectotype; DEIC Dip-0009 ♂, same locality data as lectotype; BMNH 1240748 ♀, same locality data as lectotype.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Cranston, P. S., Martin, J. & Spies, M. 2016. Cryptic species in the nuisance midge Polypedilum nubifer (Skuse) (Diptera: Chironomidae) and the status of Tripedilum Kieffer. Zootaxa 4079(4): 429–447 [434].
• Polypedilum pharao Kieffer, J.J. 1924. Chironomides d'Egypte (Dipt.). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 1924: 244–313 [274].
• Chironomus (Polypedilum) albiceps Johannsen, O.A. 1932. Chironominae of the Malayan Subregion of the Dutch East Indies. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Supplement 11: 508-552 [515].
• Polypedilum pruinosum Goetghebuer, M. 1934. Zur Erforschung des Persischen Golfes. Ceratopogonidae et Chironomidae. Arbeiten über Morphologische und Taxonomische Entomologie aus Berlin-Dahlem 1: 39–39 [37].
• Chironomus (Polypedilum) octoguttatus Tokunaga, M. 1936. Chironomidae from Japan (Diptera) VII. New species and a new variety of the genus Chironomus Meigen. Philippine Journal of Science 60: 71–85 [83].
• Chironomus daitobeceus Sasa, M. & Suzuki, H. 2001. Studies on the species of family Chironomidae (Diptera) collected on Minamidaito Island, Okinawa, South Japan. Part 1. Tropical Medicine 43(3/4): 61–92 [64].
• Polypedilum daitoneoum Sasa, M. & Suzuki, H. 2001. Studies on the species of family Chironomidae (Diptera) collected on Minamidaito Island, Okinawa, South Japan. Part 1. Tropical Medicine 43(3/4): 61–92 [76–77].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Freeman, P. 1961. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 9: 611-737 [707]
• Sasa, M. & Sublette, J. E. 1980. Synonymy, distribution, and morphological notes on Polypediulum (s. s.) nubifer (Skuse) (Diptera: Chironomidae). Japanese Journal of Sanitary Zoology 31(2): 93–102 [93]
• Kobayashi, T. & Endo, K. 2008. Synonymic notes on some species of Chironomidae (Diptera) described by Dr. M. Sasa. Zootaxa 1712: 49–64 [61]
• Cranston, P. S., Martin, J. & Spies, M. 2016. Cryptic species in the nuisance midge Polypedilum nubifer (Skuse) (Diptera: Chironomidae) and the status of Tripedilum Kieffer. Zootaxa 4079(4): 429–447 [434]

 

Generic Combinations

• Polypedilum (Polypedilum) albiceps (Johannsen, 1932). —
  Tokunaga, M. 1964. Diptera: Chironomidae. Insects of Micronesia 12: 485-628 [583]
• Polypedilum (Polypedilum) nubiferum (Skuse, 1889) [see comments regarding the correct valid name for Chironomus nubifer]. —
  Freeman, P. 1961. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 9: 611-737 [707]
• Polypedilum octoguttatum (Tokunaga, 1936). —
  Sasa, M. 1979. A morphological study of adults and immature stages of 20 Japanese species of the family Chironomidae (Diptera). Research Report from the National Institute of Environmental Studies, No. 7. pp. 148 [15]

 

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Widespread Australia excluding TAS; Qld: Lake Eacham, southern NSW; Indonesia.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: volant.

Larva: aquatic, disturbed habitats, eutrophic habitats, rice fields.

Pupa: lake.

 

General References

Bugledich, E.-M.A., Cranston, P.S. & Martin, J. 1999. Diptera: Nematocera: Chironomidae. pp. 112-158 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 30.1. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xiii 627 pp.

Cranston, P.S. & Martin, J. 1989. 26. Family Chironomidae. pp. 252-274 in Evenhuis, N.L. (ed.). Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions. Honolulu and Leiden : Bishop Museum Press and E.J. Brill 1155 pp. [273] (extralimital synonyms)

Freeman, P. 1961. The Chironomidae (Diptera) of Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 9: 611-737 [707] (taxonomy, extralimital synonyms)

Stevens, M.M., Helliwell, S. & Cranston, P.S. 2006. Larval chironomid communities (Diptera: Chironomidae) associated with establishing rice crops in southern New South Wales, Australia. Hydrobiologia 556: 317-325

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
31-Jan-2017	CHIRONOMINI	10-Mar-2016	MODIFIED
12-May-2015	CHIRONOMIDAE	01-Mar-2016	MODIFIED	Dr Federica Turco
26-Apr-2012		26-Apr-2012	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)