non-biting midge

(Demeijerea brachialis)

Conservation Status
non-biting midge (Demeijerea brachialis)
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

not listed

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Demeijerea brachialis is a small non-biting midge. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada. Based on the scarcity and wide distribution of recorded sightings, it is undoubtedly underreported, probably due to its small size and similarity in appearance to many closely related species.

The head is small and brown. The mouth parts are short and brown. The sensory appendages (palps) on the mouth have 4 segments. There are two large compound and no simple eyes (ocelli). On the upper part of the face (frons), there is a pair of minute, almost spherical bumps (tubercles) in the middle. The antennae on the male are brown and have eleven segments. The first 10 segments are very short. The last segment is very long and feather-like (plumose), with long, light brownish-yellow (ocher) hairs. The basal segment is ocher, the remainder is blackish-brown. The second and third segments are fused together, and there is a broad constriction between them that suggests a joint. On the female the antennae are shorter. They have just 5 or 6 segments, and are not plumose.

The thorax is shiny blackish-brown. It is gradually narrowed toward the center. There is a broad or very broad notch and a row of hairs in the middle.

The abdomen is yellow or light green, long, and cylindrical. Segments 2 through 5 always have a narrow brownish-black band at the base. Segment 2 is often completely brownish-black, segments 3 to 5 are sometimes partially or completely brownish-black. The segments beyond segment 5 are always completely brownish-black. Segments 3 through 6 do not have a scar-like impression at the middle of the base.

The wings are long narrow, and iridescent. They are held over the body when at rest. They do not have long hairs on the surface. The basal third is tinted yellow, there is a diffuse brown cloud in the middle third, and the remainder is clear. The wing veins are yellow at the basal third of the wing, brown beyond. There is no cross vein (m-cu) between the media vein (M) and the cubitus vein (cu). The radial-media (r-m) cross vein between the last radial vein (R4+5) and M, is at a distinct oblique angle to R4+5. The cu vein forks below or slightly beyond r-m. The distance between R4+5 and the wingtip is equal to the distance between M and the wingtip. The ends of R1 and R2+3 are slightly but distinctly separated, not joined at the wingtip.

The legs are long, slender, and mostly ocher. The base of the first segment (coxa), the tips of the third segment (femur) and fourth segment (tibia), and the segments of last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, are brown. The tibia on the front leg is dark brown. At the tip there is a low, rounded scale which projects slightly beyond a similar scale on the other side. The tibia on the middle and hind legs have spurs that are modified into combs. The combs are broadly triangular, similar in shape, and separated by a distinct notch. On the middle tibia each comb has a single spine. The tarsus has five segments. The first segment is usually longer than the tibia. On the front leg the first segment is dark brown except for the basal third, which is whitish or ocher. The tarsus on the front leg has a dense beard which is longer on the outer side than the inner side. The last two segments of the tarsus on the middle and hind legs are dark brown.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Wing length: (3.6 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

 

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

May to August

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

 

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

 
  11/28/2020      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Diptera (flies)  
 

Suborder

Nematocera (long-horned flies)  
 

Infraorder

Culicomorpha (mosquitoes and midges)  
 

Superfamily

Chironomoidea  
 

Family

Chironomidae (non-biting midges)  
 

Subfamily

Chironominae  
 

Tribe

Chironomini  
 

No taxon

Chironomus group  
 

Genus

Demeijerea  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Chironomus brachialis

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

This species has no common name. The common name for the family is non-biting midges, and it is applied here for convenience.

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Frons

The upper part of an insect’s face, roughly corresponding to the forehead.

 

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Palp

Short for pedipalp. A segmented, finger-like process of an arthropod; one is attached to each maxilla and two are attached to the labium. They function as sense organs in spiders and insects, and as weapons in scorpions. Plural: palpi or palps.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

Tubercle

On plants and animals: a small, rounded, raised projection on the surface. On insects and spiders: a low, small, usually rounded, knob-like projection. On slugs: raised areas of skin between grooves covering the body.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    non-biting midge (Demeijerea brachialis)      
           
 
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  Alfredo Colon
8/13/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

non-biting midge (Demeijerea brachialis)  
           
 
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Created: 11/29/2020

Last Updated:

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