Encyclopedia

Nonbiting Midges

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Midges, Nonbiting

 

(Chironomidae, Tenipedidae), a family of dipterous insects. Length, 1.5–15 mm. The males usually have pinnate antennae and long legs. They live three to seven days and do not feed. There are more than 2,000 species.

Nonbiting midges are ubiquitous. The larvae and pupae inhabit freshwater bodies, soil, seas, and oceans. They build tubule homes in slime, in stones, and on plants and plant tissues; some live free. They feed on algae, bacteria, and detritus; some are predators; a few are parasites of sponges, mollusks, and mayflies. The larvae live from one to 12 months, the pupae two to three days. Benthic larvae (aquatic larvae) are the principal food of freshwater benthophage fish.

REFERENCES

Opredelitel’ nasekomykh Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR, vol. 5, part 1. Moscow, 1969.
Zhizn’ zhivotnykh, vol. 3. Moscow, 1969.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Chironomids, the nonbiting midges (Diptera; Chironomidae), are one of the most abundant macroinvertebrate groups that exist in most freshwater aquatic habitats (Armitage et al.
Vibrio cholerae bacteria are common hitchhikers attached to the surface of adult nonbiting midges (observed mainly with Chironomus sp., family Chironomidae).
However, the potential of adult nonbiting midges to carry aquatic Vibrio cholerae bacteria (attached to their chitinous surface, mainly on the intersegmental membranes) was only recently suggested (Broza et al.
Wind direction and its linkage with Vibrio cholerae dissemination
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