Aagaardia,a New Holarctic Orthoclad Genus (Diptera: Chironomidae)

Diagnoses of all stages of the new genus Aagaardia are given. The genus includes A. sivertseni (Aagaard), originally described in Eukiefferiella Thienemann, from Norway and Finland and described in all stages; A. protensa sp.n. from Finland and A. triangulata sp.n. from Turkey described as male imagines; and A. longicalcis sp.n. from Canada described in both sexes. The male imagines share bare eyes, strong punctation on wings, bare squama, extended costa, triangular gonostylus and two groups of extremely strong and sclerotized virga. The pupa and the female genitalia show relationship with Paratrissocladius Zavrcirc]el, while the larva is very similar to the larvae of Psilometriocnemus Sæther and Platysmittia Sæther. Parsimony analyses suggest that Aagaardia forms the plesiomorphic sister genus to the rest of the Heterotrissocladius group combined.