A NEW SPECIES OF MONOPELOPIA (DIPTERA: CHIRONOMIDAE) FROM PHYTOTELMATA IN JAMAICA, WITH PRELIMINARY ECOLOGICAL NOTES
1998; Kansas (Central States) Entomological Society; Volume: 71; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1937-2353
AutoresJ. H. Epler, Wolfgang Janetzky,
Tópico(s)Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
ResumoThe chironomid component of the aquatic community found in Jamaican bromeliad phytotelmata consisted of Chironomus anonymus Williston, a Metriocnemus sp., Polypedilum cf. tritum (Walker) and two species of Monopelopia. The fourth instar larva, pupa, and adult male and female of Monopelopia mikeschwartzi n. sp. are described from material collected from these phytotelmata. The new species is very similar to M. tillandsia Beck and Beck, another New World Monopelopia species also known from bromeliad phy totelmata. Characters are given that separate these two species in all life stages, as well as from other Nearctic species of the genus. Water temperature, pH and conductivity values and addi tional ecological data are given for the phytotelmata in which the new species was found. Phytotelmata are small water bodies impounded by plants or plant structures (Fish, 1983) that can be regarded as aquatic microcosms (Maguire, 1971), inhab ited by a variety of organisms. Among these, dipteran larvae, especially Chirono midae, Culicidae and Syrphidae, are highly successful in colonizing phytotelmata. Reviewing the published literature, Frank (1983) listed Ablabesmyia costarricensis (Picado), A. ignobilis (=Paramerina ignobilis (Johannsen)), Chirocladius pedipal pus Picado, Chironomus, Cryptochironomus, Metriocnemus abdominoflavatus Pic ado, Monopelopia tillandsia Beck and Beck, Orthocladius, Pentaneura and Tany tarsus sp. nr. confusus Malloch as Chironomidae having larval stages known to occur in bromeliad phytotelmata. Epler (1988, 1995) reported larvae of Dicro tendipes leucoscelis (Townes), Monopelopia tillandsia and two species of Metri ocnemus from bromeliad phytotelmata in Florida. Laessle (1961) noted the pres ence of Chironomus sp. and Cryptochironomus sp. in Jamaican bromeliad phytotelmata. Due to taxonomic changes and the general difficulty involved in iden tifying Chironomidae, many of the preceding names from Frank (1983) and Laessle (1961) must be viewed with skepticism until the material is re-examined. For ex ample, Chirocladius pedipalpus is almost certainly a Polypedilum, but its true iden tity will not be clear until type material, if it exists, is examined. The widely used (especially in older literature) generic names Chironomus, Cryptochironomus, Or thocladius and Pentaneura are almost meaningless without modern examination of reference material. Cranston and Judd (1987) and Cranston and Kitching (1995) provide additional (and taxonomically correct, at least in this moment in time) in formation on phytotelmatic chironomids. During a study conducted by the junior author in Jamaica, larvae of Polypedilum cf. tritum (Walker), Metriocnemus sp., Chironomus anonymus Williston and two dif ferent species of Monopelopia were found. One of the latter was successfully reared to the adult stage and is described here by the senior author, along with preliminary notes on its ecology. '461 Tiger Hammock Road, Crawfordville, Florida 32327, U.S.A. 2 Institut fur Chemie und Biologie des Meeres, Aquatische Okologie, Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg, Postfach 25 03, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany Accepted for publication 27 August 1997. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.35 on Thu, 01 Sep 2016 04:57:33 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOLUME 71, ISSUE 3 217 ^ 500 m-7 Kingston ^^^'^ Depression ? ~UW0^^^W /A ? Friendship ,v'' A^Wfi^l (^) ^'-'v^ I r <^ ( r^//''?Ml^ COFFEE HILL ? \^ Fig. 1. Map of study area (Inset: Jamaica; WGH = Windsor Green House field station; Friendship and Sherwood Content are nearby villages). The study was conducted near Windsor, Trelawny Parish, at the northern rim of the Jamaican Cockpit Country, a karst landscape reaching 700 m elevation at its highest part (Fig. 1); part of the study was performed on Coffee Hill (77?41'15W, 18?21'10N, elevation approximately 198 m). The mean annual rainfall of 1900 3000 mm fosters tropical wet to moist rainforest, described by Asprey and Robbins (1953) as Wet Limestone Forest. Terrestrial tank bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) such as Hohenbergia inermis Mez and Aechmea paniculigera (Swartz) Grisebach are a typical feature of the understory. Among these bromeliads, A. paniculigera is es pecially suitable to funnel rainwater and leaf litter derived from the canopy into its leaf axils, where a temporary or even permanent pool is formed (Janetzky and Vareschi, 1993). Methods Temperature and pH values were measured by means of a temperature-compen sated pH meter (WTW pH 320) and a temperature-compensated conductivity meter (WTW LF 92). Before samples were taken, accumulated leaf litter derived from the canopy was removed after being washed down in the phytotelmata. Water and re maining small detritus were sucked out of the bromeliads' leaf axils using a 100 ml syringe on which a hose was fitted, to reach the bottom of leaf axils. Empty leaf ax ils were rinsed with water for complete sampling. In a few cases, bromeliads were cut from the ground, dissected, and water from different leaf axils was collected sep arately. Samples were filtered with a net (mesh size 108 |im), and fixed with forma lin (final concentration 5%). In the laboratory samples were sorted using a light mi croscope (WILD M8) and preserved in 70% ethanol. For rearing experiments, in April 1995 samples were taken from phytotelmata in Aechmea paniculigera growing on Coffee Hill and sorted. Larvae of Monopelopia sp. were transferred into Petri dishes. Detritus was added, after checking for further animals to avoid contamination. The dishes were covered with nets to prevent the contamination of samples and to retain emergent adults. The dishes were checked daily for developmental stages; larvae, pupae and adults were fixed in 70% ethanol. Material was mounted on microscope slides in Canada balsam or Euparal. Mor This content downloaded from 157.55.39.35 on Thu, 01 Sep 2016 04:57:33 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 218 JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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