Congruence between larval ventromental plate ultrastructure and immature morphology in Yama Sublette & Martin and some Oceanian species of Chironomus Meigen (Diptera: Chironomidae) |
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| Authors: | C J WEBB FLS P S CRANSTON JON MARTIN |
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| Institution: | Northern Territory University, GPO Box 40146, Casuarina, Darwin, Northern Territory 0811, Australia;ANIC, CSIRO Division of Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia;Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia |
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| Abstract: | The morphology of the larval ventromental plates of Y. tahitiensis Sublette & Martin and four Oceanian species of Chironomus Meigen, C. hawaiiensis Grimshaw, C. javanus Kieffer, C. magnivalva Kieffer and C. samoensis Edwards, has been studied by scanning electron micrography. Data on ventromental plate ultrastructure are used in phenetic and cladistic analyses of the relationships of T. tahitiensis and the Oceanian Chironomus to other species in Chironomus and additional genera. The results of these analyses support the current generic status of T. tahitiensis but indicate that Yama is less closely related to Chironomus than previously supposed, a finding that is supported by a reexamination of 'traditional' morphological features. |
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| Keywords: | Fly larvae cladistics phonetics SEM taxonomy |
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