Net-veined midges

Code QD049999

The larvae of Blephariceridae are very distinctive and unlikely to be mistaken for anything else. A major difficulty may be in recognising them as belonging to the Diptera, due to their extensive modification. The body is very dorso-ventrally flattened and is distinctly lobed. The first (anterior) division of the body, the cephalic, comprises the fused head, thorax and first abdominal segment; the five posterior lobes represent abdominal segments. The terminal division represents the fused abdominal segments 7-10.

Eggs of Blephariceridae are laid on smooth rocks and boulders alongside or within fast to torrential waterways, usually as the water is dropping in spring. When the water level rises again, hatching takes place and larvae adhere tightly to the surface with their flattened bodies and ventral sucking organs. Feeding is by grazing diatoms, microalgae etc. on rock surfaces. Pupation is rapid, and seems more prevalent in the thin water film at the edge of the torrent than within the current.

References:

Zwick, P. (1977) Australian Blephariceridae Diptera. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplement 46 : 1-121.

Zwick, P. (1981) Australian Edwardsina (Diptera: Blephariceridae), new and rediscovered species. Aquatic Insects 3 : 75-78.

Checklist to the Australian freshwater species of Blephariceridae

Subfamily EDWARDSININAE

Edwardsina Alexander.

Subgenus Tonnoirina Edwards.

Edwardsina affinis Zwick. Vic.

Edwardsina alticola Zwick. NSW.

Edwardsina australiensis Tillyard. NSW, ACT, Vic.

ssp. aberrans Zwick. Vic.

ssp. australiensis s. str. NSW, ACT, Vic.

Edwardsina bubalus Zwick. Vic.

Edwardsina confinis Tonnoir. Tas.

Edwardsina confusa Zwick. NSW.

Edwardsina ferruginea Tonnoir. Tas.

Edwardsina gigantea Zwick. NSW, ACT.

Edwardsina montana Tonnoir. Tas.

Edwardsina pilosa Zwick. Vic.

Edwardsina plicata Zwick. Tas.

Edwardsina polymorpha Zwick. Vic, NSW.

Edwardsina reticulata Zwick. Tas.

Edwardsina similis Tonnoir. Tas.

Edwardsina soror Zwick. NSW.

Edwardsina spinosa Zwick. Vic, NSW.

Edwardsina tasmaniensis Tonnoir. Tas.

Edwardsina torrentium Zwick. Vic, ACT, NSW.

ssp. aspera Zwick. Vic.

ssp. torrentium s.str. Vic, ACT, NSW.

Edwardsina williamsi Zwick. Vic, NSW.

Subfamily BLEPHARICERINAE

Apistomyia Bigot.

Apistomyia collini Bezzi. Qld.

Apistomyia tonnoiri Tillyard. NSW, ACT, Qld, Vic.

Austrocurupira Dumbleton.

Austrocurupira nicholsoni Tillyard. NSW, Vic.

Parapistomyia Zwick.

Parapistomyia bulbifera Zwick. NSW.

Parapistomyia tropica Zwick. Qld.