Tanytarsus miriforceps (Kieffer, 1921)

Tanytarsus miriforceps (Kieffer, 1921) View in CoL

Material examined.

• 13 pupal exuviae, 1 adult – male, Taul Stiol (R 4), 3 July 2023 • 110 pupal exuviae, 1 pharate adult – male, 1 adult – male, Lake Lala Mica (R 2), 4 July 2023 .

Distribution.

Holarctic. The species is widespread across Europe, primarily in northern and western countries ( Ashe and Cranston 1984; de Jong 2016), with recent records in Poland, Montenegro and European Russia ( Gilka and Dominiak 2007; Krasheninnikov 2014; Gadawski et al. 2022). It is also known from Canada ( de Jong 2016); and the Far East ( Orel 2018).

Habitat.

Current data indicate that this species is a limnobiont inhabiting lakes mainly at high altitudes and high latitudes (except for Lake Skadar), suggesting a preference for low temperatures (e. g., Verneaux and Aleya 1999).

Remarks.

The species exhibits symptoms of glacial relictualism as already suggested by Reiss and Fittkau (1971) and Reiss (1984).

The collection of floating chironomid pupal exuviae from the lakes in this study provides an excellent basis for the chironomid inventory of the area. For species identification, exuviae are sometimes even more useful than adults ( Prat et al. 2016). However, it should be noted that our species inventory from a “ snapshot ” survey cannot be comprehensive, as not all species present in a site emerge simultaneously. Even though the collection was conducted during a period suitable for recording most species ( Wilson and Ruse 2005; own data), we believe that the absence of cold-stenothermic species / genera in our collection is due to their early spring emergence.

Compared to some Central and East European countries, such as Hungary, Ukraine, Czechia, Slovakia, and Poland, the Romanian chironomid fauna is relatively well-studied. The latest checklist of the family from Romania ( Tatole 2023) includes 517 species, with recent records of nine additional species raising this total to 526. This number could be even higher if species within the genus Limnophyes and some Chironomus species could be reliably identified.

A detailed examination of the chorological data in the aforementioned checklist reveals a lack of records from the Rodna and Maramures Mountains. Chironomids are also absent from the list of Diptera collected in Maramures Mountains Nature Park ( Parvu 2008). The only available information on chironomids associated with the studied lakes comes from the sediment core of Lake Taul Muced, where subfossil larval remains were identified to morphotype level ( Diaconu et al. 2017).

Here, we provide the first information about chironomid occurrence within the protected areas of Maramures Mountains Nature Park and Rodna Mountains National Park, offering potential value to use by the administrations of both parks.