New descriptions of the larval and pupal stages of Orthocladius nitidoscutellatus and Psectrocladius nevalis from Xizang, China (Diptera, Chironomidae)

Abstract

Tibetan Plateau is one of the most typical areas of biodiversity in the world because of its unique environmental and regional units, which breed unique biological communities and concentrate on many unique and rare wild animals and plants. Research on Chironomidae in the Tibetan Plateau is relatively weak. At present, the identification of Chironomidae species mainly depends on male adults, while identification of larvae and pupae is relatively difficult and there is less research on them. During the investigations of insect diversity in the Tibetan Plateau, larval and pupal stages of Orthocladius nitidoscutellatus Lundström, 1915 and Psectrocladius nevalis Akhrorov, 1977 were described and illustrated. Matching and identification of larval and pupal stages were based on DNA barcodes. Neighbour-joining trees were reconstructed, based on known Orthocladius and Psectrocladius COI DNA barcodes, respectively.