Abstract
One newly described species of Chironomidae, Polypedilum (Pentapedilum) cranstoni sp. nov., was discovered in ephemeral rock pools from the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains in South Africa. Desiccation-resistant larvae were obtained from bottom sediments of rock pools that had been dry for the previous several months. After rehydration, ex situ adults emerged and were collected. The morphology and diagnostic characters of the new species (male and female adults) are described here together with an analysis based on their COI gene sequence.
References
Adams, A. (1985) Cryptobiosis in Chironomidae (Diptera)—Two decades on. Antenna: Bulletin of the Royal Entomological Society London, 8, 58–61.
Andersen, T., Ekrem, T. & Cranston, P.S. (2013) The larvae of the Holarctic Chironomidae (Diptera)—Introduction. In: Andersen, T., Cranston, P.S. & Elper, J.H.(Eds.), Chironomidae of the Holarctic Region. Keys and diagnoses—Larvae. Insect Systematics and Evolution Supplement. 66. Scandinavian Entomology & Systematic Entomology Ltd, Lund, pp. 7–12
Andersen, T., Gonzalez, O.C.B., Baars, J.R. & Earle, W. (2015) A new invasive weed-feeding species of Polypedilum (Pentapedilum) Kieffer from South Africa (Diptera: Chironomidae, Chironominae). Zootaxa, 4000 (5), 559–570. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4000.5.5
Bird, M.S., Mlambo, M.C., Wasserman, R.J. et al. (2019) Deeper knowledge of shallow waters: reviewing the invertebrate fauna of southern African temporary wetlands. Hydrobiologia, 827, 89–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3772-z
Blanckenberg, M., Mlambo, M.C., Parker, D. & Reed, C. (2019) The negative impacts of fire on the resurrection ecology of invertebrates from temporary wetlands in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos in the Western Cape, South Africa. Austral Ecology, 44, 1225–1235. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12800
Cornette, R., Kanamori, Y., Watanabe, M., Nakahara, Y., Gusev, O., Mitsumasu, K., Kadono-Okuda, K., Shimomura, M., Mita, K., Kikawada, T. & Okuda, T. (2010) Identification of anhydrobiosis-related genes from an expressed sequence tag database in the cryptobiotic midge Polypedilum vanderplanki (Diptera; Chironomidae). Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285, 35889–35899. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M110.150623
Cornette, R. & Kikawada, T. (2011) The induction of anhydrobiosis in the sleeping chironomid: current status of our knowledge. IUBMB Life, 63, 419–429. https://doi.org/10.1002/iub.463
Cornette, R., Yamamoto, N., Yamamoto, M., Kobayashi, T., Petrova, N. A., Gusev, O., Shimura, S., Kikawada, T., Pemba, D. & Okuda, T.A. (2017) A new anhydrobiotic midge from Malawi, Polypedilum pembai sp. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae), closely related to the desiccation tolerant midge, Polypedilum vanderplanki Hinton. Systematic Entomology, 42, 814–825. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12248
Cranston, P.S., Dillon, M.E., Pinder, L.C.V. & Reiss, F.R. (1989) The adult males of Chironominae (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Holarctic region—Keys and diagnoses. In: Wiederholm, T. (Ed.), Chironomidae of the Holarctic region: Keys and diagnoses, Part 3: Adult males. Lund, Sweden. Entomologica Scandinavica, Supplement 34, pp. 353–502.
Cranston, P.S., Nolte, U. (1996) Fissimentum, a new genus of drought-tolerant Chironomini (Diptera: Chironomidae) from the Americas and Australia. Entomological News, 107 (1), 1–15.
Cranston, P.S. (2014) A new putatively cryptobiotic midge, Polypedilum ovahimba sp. nov. (Diptera: Chironomidae), from southern Africa. Austral Entomology, 53, 373–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/aen.12090
Cranston, P.S., Martin, J. & Spies, M. (2016) Cryptic species in the nuisance midge Polypedilum nubifer (Skuse) (Diptera: Chironomidae) and the status of Tripedilum Kieffer. Zootaxa, 4079 (4), 429–447. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4079.4.3
Dunnink, J.A., Curtis, C.J., Beukes, J.P., van Zyl, P.G. & Swartz, J. (2016) The sensitivity of Afromontane tarns in the Maloti-Drakensberg region of South Africa and Lesotho to acidic deposition. African journal of Aquatic Science, 41 (4), 413–426. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085914.2016.1244509
Ekrem, T., Ashe, P., Andersen, T. & Stur, E. (2017) Chironomidae (non-biting midges). In: Kirk-Spriggs, H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 2. Nematocerous Diptera and lower Brachycera. Suricata 5. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 813–864.
Everatt, M.J., Convey, P., Worland, M.R., Bale, J.S. & Hayward, S.A.L. (2014) Contrasting strategies of resistance vs tolerance to desiccation in two polar dipterans. Polar Research, 33, 22963. https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v33.22963
Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R. & Vrijenhoek, R. (1994) DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol, 3, 294–299.
Freeman, P. (1958) A study of the Chironomidae (Diptera) of Africa South of the Sahara part IV. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomological Series, 6, 263–367. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.17110
Freeman, P. (1964) Notes on Chironomidae (Diptera: Nematocera). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London, Series B, Taxonomy, 33 (9 –10), 147–150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1964.tb01631.x
Frouz, J., Matěna, J. & Ali, A. (2003) Survival strategies of chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) living in temporary habitats: a review. European Journal of Entomology, 100 (4), 459–466. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2003.069
Gusev, O., Cornette, R., Kikawada, T. & Okuda, T. (2010a) Expression of heat shock protein-coding genes associated with anhydrobiosis in an African chironomid Polypedilum vanderplanki. Cell Stress Chaperones 16, 81–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12192-010-0223-9
Gusev, O., Nakahara, Y., Vanyagina, V., Malutina, L., Cornette, R., Sakashita, T., Hamada, N., Kikawada, T., Kobayashi, Y. & Okuda, T. (2010b) Anhydrobiosis-associated nuclear DNA damage and repair in the sleeping chironomid: linkage with radioresistance. PLoS One, 5, e14008. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014008
Gusev, O., Suetsugu, Y., Cornette, R., Kawashima, T., Logacheva, M.D., Kondrashov, A.S., Penin, A.A., Hatanaka, R., Kikuta, S., Shimura, S., Kanamori, H., Katayose, Y., Matsumoto, T., Shagimardanova, E., Alexeev, D., Govorun, V., Wisecaver, J., Mikheyev, A., Koyanagi, R., Fujie, M., Nishiyama, T., Shigenobu, S., Shibata, T.F., Golygina, V., Hasebe, M., Okuda, T., Satoh, N. & Kikawada, T. (2014) Comparative genome sequencing reveals genomic signature of extreme desiccation tolerance in the anhydrobiotic midge. Nature Communications, 5, 4784. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5784
Hamer, M.L. & Martens, K. (1998) The large Branchiopoda (Crustacea) from temporary habitats of the Drakensberg region, South Africa. Hydrobiologia, 384,151–165. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003251428494
Harrison, A.D. (2001) Chironomidae (Diptera) in the Albany museum, Part 1. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museums, 2, 9–18.
Harrison, A.D. (2004) The non-biting Midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) of South Africa. Available from: https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/resources/martin/chironomidae.html#Chironomini (accessed 1 March 2021)
Hinton, H.E. (1951) A new chironomid from Africa, the larvae of which can be dehydrated without injury. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 121, 371–380. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1951.tb00801.x
Hinton, H.E. (1960a) Cryptobiosis in the larva of Polypedilum vanderplanki Hint. (Chironomidae). Journal of Insect Physiology, 5, 286–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(60)90011-1
Hinton, H.E. (1960b) A fly larva that tolerates dehydration and temperatures of -270° to +102° C. Nature, 188, 336–337. https://doi.org/10.1038/188336a0
Jones, R.E. (1975) Dehydration in an Australian rockpool chironomid larva, (Paraborniella tonnoiri). Journal of Entomology, 49, 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3032.1975.tb00074.x
Kawai, K., Ohsugi, T., Goka, K. & Imabayashi, H. (2012) Genetical relationships among 22 Japanese species of the genus Polypedilum. Medical Entomology and Zoology, 63, 313–317. https://doi.org/10.7601/mez.63.313
Lahr, J. (1997) Ecotoxicology of organisms adapted to life in temporary freshwater ponds in arid and semi-arid regions. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 32 (1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449900154
McLachlan, A.J. (1988) Refugia and habitat partitioning among midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) in rain-pools. Oecologia, 13, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1988.tb00346.x
Mdidimba, N.D., Mlambo, M.C. & Motitsoe, S.N. (2021) Trophic interactions and food web structure of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities found in the Afromontane temporary wetlands, a case study of the Maloti-Drankensberg. Aquatic Sciences, 83, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-021-00792-w
Oyewo, E.A. & Saether, O.A. (2008) Revision of Polypedilum (Pentapedilum) Kieffer and Ainuyusurika Sasa et Shirasaki (Diptera: Chironomidae). Zootaxa, 1953 (1), 1–145. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1953.1.1
Pinho, L.C., Fusari, L.M. & Lamas, C.J.E. (2015) Three new species of Polypedilum Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Neotropical region. Zootaxa, 3947 (4), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3947.4.7
Saether, O.A. (1977) Female genitalia in Chironomidae and other Nematocera: morphology, phylogenies, keys. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 197, 1–211.
Saether, O.A. (1980) Glossary of Chironomid morphology terminology (Diptera: Chironomidae). Entomologica Scandinavica, Supplement 14, 1–51.
Saether, O.A. (1990) A review of the genus Limnophyes Eaton from the Holarctic and Afrotropical regions (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae). Entomologica Scandinavica, Supplement 35, 1–139.
Sæther, O.A. & Oyewo, E.A. (2008) Keys, phylogenies and biogeography of Polypedilum subgenus Uresipedilum Oyewo et Sæther (Diptera, Chironomidae). Zootaxa, 1806 (1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1806.1.1
Sæther, O.A., Andersen, T., Pinho, L.C. & Mendes, H.F. (2010) The problems with Polypedilum Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae), with the description of Probolum subgen. n. Zootaxa, 2497 (1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2497.1.1
Strachan, S.R., Chester, E.T. & Robson, B.J. (2015) Freshwater invertebrate life history strategies for surviving desiccation. Springer Science Reviews, 3 (1), 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40362-015-0031-9
Tamura, K., Peterson, D., Peterson, N., Stecher, G., Nei, M. & Kumar, S. (2011) MEGA5: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis using Maximum Likelihood, Evolutionary Distance, and Maximum Parsimony Methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28, 2731–2739. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr121
Tang, H.Q., Cranston, P.S., Zhao, J.G., Lok, C.W., Wong, K.C. & Li, Z.Q. (2014) The immature stages of Polypedilum (Pentapedilum) nodosum (Johannsen) and Polypedilum (Tripodura) masudai (Tokunaga) (Diptera, Chironomidae, Chironominae). Zootaxa, 3893 (3), 416–428. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3893.3.6
Tang, H.Q., Cheng, Q., Han, W. & Cranston, P.S. (2021) Integrative taxonomy: molecular phylogenetics of Polypedilum (Cerobregma) and revisited morphology of Yaethauma and Collartomyia (Diptera: Chironomidae) reveals synonymy and supports new classification. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlaa187, 1–18.
Thorat, L. & Nath, B.B. (2018) Insects with survival kits for desiccation tolerance under extreme water deficits. Frontiers in Physiology, 9, 1843. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01843
Watanabe, M., Kikawada, T., Minagawa, N., Yukuhiro, F. & Okuda, T. (2002) Mechanism allowing an insect to survive complete dehydration and extreme temperatures. Journal of Experimental Biology, 205, 2799–2802. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.205.18.2799
Watanabe, M., Kikawada, T. & Okuda, T. (2003) Increase of internal ion concentration triggers trehalose synthesis associated with cryptobiosis in larvae of Polypedilum vanderplanki. Journal of Experimental Biology, 206, 2281–2286. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00418
Yamamoto, N., Hirowatari, T. &Yamamoto, M. (2012) The subgenus Pentapedilum Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the Yaeyama islands, the Ryukyus, Japan. Zootaxa, 3191 (1), 33–40. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3191.1.3