Limnophyes minimus (Meigen)

Saether, Ole A. & Andersen, Trond, 2011, Chironomidae from Gough, Nightingale and Tristan da Cunha islands, Zootaxa 2915, pp. 1-19 : 8

Limnophyes minimus (Meigen)

Limnophyes minimus ( Meigen, 1818: 47)

Material examined. GOUGH ISLAND: Site SG1 at Snoek Gat, 40o20'439"S, 0 9o 52'927"W, supralittoral, 5 m a.s.l., 2000, 3 females, Malaise trap, C. Hänel & A.G. Jones; as above except: SB1 at Seal Beach, 40o20'667"S, 0 9o 53'199"W, boulder beach, 2 females; GL1a at The Glen, 40o18'873"S, 0 9o 54'220"W, 5 females; SB4 at Seal Beach penguin colony, 40o20'711"S, 0 9o 53'232"W, tussock-grassland, 25 m a.s.l., 2 females; SG2b at Snoek Gat, 40o20'437"S, 0 9o 52'943"W, 1 female; TD2 at Tumbledown, 40o20'990"S, 0 9o 53'291"W, 1 female; ET1 at East Tumbledown, 40o20'881"S, 0 9o 53'285"W, tussock-fernbush, 50 m a.s.l., 2 females; SO2 at Sophora Glen stream, 40o19'070"S, 0 9o 54'268"W, fernbush, 50–100 m a.s.l., 3 females; PC1 at Prion Cave, 40o20'724"S, 0 9o 53'354"W, 1 female; FS1 at ‘First Stop’, 40o20'287"S, 0 9o 53'387"W, 1 female; WA1, west of Admirals, 40o20'380"S, 0 9o 53'980"W, 1 female; FS1 at ‘First Stop’ stream, 40o20'227"S, 0 9o 53'367"W, fernbush, 100–150 m a.s.l., 1 female; TK3 on Tafelkop in presence of stream and some tussock grass, 40o19'960"S, 0 9o 53'806"W, fernbush, 350– 400 m a.s.l., 1 female; WC1 at Waterfall Camp, 40o18'356"S, 0 9o 56'542"W, wet heath, 650–700 m a.s.l., 2 females; 2 females without data ( BMNH, TCD, ZMBN). NIGHTINGALE ISLAND: Site 8, 1st Pond furthest from the path, 37o25'616''S, 12°29'302''W, mire wetland with pool surrounded by Scirpus spp., 30.iii.–01.iv.2005, 15 females, Malaise trap, C. Hänel; Site 10, 3rd Pond close to top of path, 37°25'533"S, 12°29'102"W, mire wetland, Scirpus spp, fernbush spp. and mosses, 26–28.iii.2005, 46 females, Malaise trap, C. Hänel ( BMNH, TCD, ZMBN).

The species including parthenogenetic populations is redescribed by Saether (1975: 1032 as L. hudsoni Saether, 1975 ; 1990: 59). As mentioned by Saether (1990) the parthenogenetic populations from the subantarctic islands mostly show a higher chaetotaxy than in most specimens of L. minimus , particularly on the preepisternum. The range given in Saether (1990) is 5–15 preepisternals with non-parthenogenetic populations having 5–12 preepisternals. The population from Nightingale Island has 9–16, 12 (30) preepisternals, the one from Gough Island 7–16, 13 (26) preepisternals.

Distribution. The species is known from all regions except Australia ( Saether & Spies 2004) including the parthenogenetic populations of the subantarctic islands of Kerguelen, Marion, Prince Edward, Gough, Inaccessible and Nightingale ( Saether 1990; Jones et al. 2003; Barber-James 2007).