Pseudosmittia Edwards, 1932

Ferrington Jr, Leonard C. & Saether, Ole A., 2011, A revision of the genera Pseudosmittia Edwards, 1932, Allocladius Kieffer, 1913, and Hydrosmittia gen. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) 2849, Zootaxa 2849 (1), pp. 1-314 : 150-151

Key to known larvae of Pseudosmittia Edwards

1. Posterior parapods each with 8 claws; antennal blade subequal to width of basal antennal segment, but clearly longer than length of segment................................................................. P. mathildae Albu (p. 210)

– Posterior parapods each with 0–5 claws; antennal blade 1–4 times as long as width of basal antennal segment, when as long as width of segment not clearly longer than length of segment.........................................................2

2. Posterior parapods each with 5 claws...................................................................... 3

– Posterior parapods each with 0–3 claws........................................................................ 4

3. Antennal blade subequal in length to width and length of basal antennal segment. P.holsata Thienemann et Strenzke (p. 151)

– Antennal blade 2–3 times as long as width of basal segment... P. trilobata (Edwards) (p.265), P. forcipata (Goetghebuer) (p. 298) (NOTE- P. trilobata is slightly larger with a total length of 3.3–3.7 mm, head capsule length of 0.24–0.26 mm, mandible length of 82–101 µm and postmentum length of 64–85 µm as opposed to total length of 1.7–3.4 mm, head capsule length of 0.20– 0.25 mm, mandible length of 78–94 µm and postmentum length of 62–80 µm in P. forcipata .)

4. Posterior parapods each with 3 claws..................................................................... 5

– Posterior parapods without claws.............................................................................. 7

5. Antennal blade subequal in length to width and length of basal antennal segment......... P. paraconjuncta (Hardy) (p. 234)

– Antennal blade 2–4 times as long as width and length of basal antennal segment.................................... 6

6. Antennal blade about 4 times as long as length of basal segment; claws of posterior parapods broad.............................................................................................. P. albipennis (Goetghebuer) (p. 244)

– Antennal blade about 2–2.5 times as long as length of basal antennal segment; claws of posterior parapods slender.............................................................. P. danconai (Marcuzzi) (p. 274), P. baueri Strenzke (p. 278)

7. Antennal blade subequal in length to width of basal antennal segment; anterior parapods without longer claws, seta submenti apically plumose.................................................... P. simplex Strenzke et Thienemann (p. 163)

– Antennal blade 2.0–2.4 times as long as width of basal antennal segment; anterior parapods each with about 20 longer claws, seta submenti simple................................................................ P. angusta (Edwards) (p. 256)