Lukashevich E.D., Shcherbakov D.E. 2014. First description of Tanyderidae (Diptera) larvae from South America // Russian Entomol. J. Vol.23. No.2: 121–138 [in English].
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; elukashevich@hotmail.com , dshh@narod.ru
KEY WORDS: morphology, spiracles, 1st instar, Chile, xylophagy, SEM, COI gene, living fossils.
ABSTRACT. Larvae of Tanyderidae were collected in logs submerged in streams among Nothofagus forests of Chile (Araucania and Los Lagos). They dwell under the bark, sometimes in self-dug chambers, and have their guts filled with crushed wood fragments. The larvae were identified as ?Tanyderus pictus Philippi, 1865 based on their COI gene sequences being strongly different from those of adult Araucoderus gloriosus (Alexander, 1920), the only other tanyderid species known from the region. Previously published and new records of South American Tanyderidae are listed. The morphology of all four larval instars of ?T. pictus is described and illustrated. Rudimentary spiracles on the metathorax and abdominal segments I–VII of all but the 1st instar are recorded for the first time for Tanyderidae. The 1st-instar larva, not previously studied in this family, differs from the older instars remarkably. In its larval characters ?Tanyderus is similar to but distinct from Mischoderus, Radinoderus and Eutanyderus. A key to tanyderid genera based on larvae is provided. The generation time was estimated as two years in at least one of the localities studied. Photographs of live larvae of ?Tanyderus and adults of Araucoderus are included.