Published January 30, 2026 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) villiculus Wang & Saether 2001

  • 1. 84 - 3 Abeguchishinden, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka 421 - 2114 Japan.
  • 2. Life Science and Technology College, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.

Description

Rheocricotopus (P.) villiculus Wang & Saether, 2001

Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) villiculus Wang & Saether, 2001: 238.

Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) villiculus – Ashe & O’Connor 2012: 568.

Type material

Holotype CHINA – Henan • ♂; Xinyang, Mt Jigong, Jigongshan NNR; 31°48′ N, 114°04′ E; 700 m a.s.l.; 11 Jul. 1997; Y.Z. Du leg.; NKU, NKU 012777.

Distribution

The species is known from Henan, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces in Oriental China (Lin et al. 2020: 284 fig. 2).

Remarks

Although in the original description of this species, the authors (Wang & Saether 2001: 238) wrote: “no humeral pit”, our re-examination of the holotype revealed that the male has large, oval humeral pits. The species is a typical member of the orientalis group, characterized by a pair of posterolateral setal tufts on the tergite IX, which is a unique feature as a discriminator from the other members. However, Wang & Saether (2001: 239) wrote: “The inferior volsella on one side is lost or reduced. It thus may seem unwarranted to describe a species based on a single specimen which, in addition, could be aberrant.”

The female, the pupa and the larva are unknown.

Notes

Published as part of Niitsuma, Hiromi & Tang, Hongqu, 2026, Taxonomic review of Rheocricotopus Brundin, 1956 (Diptera: Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae) from East Asia, with descriptions of twelve new species, pp. 1-114 in European Journal of Taxonomy 1037 on pages 49-50, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2026.1037.3157, http://zenodo.org/record/18507203

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Collection code
NKU
Material sample ID
NKU 012777
Event date
1997-07-11
Verbatim event date
1997-07-11
Scientific name authorship
Wang & Saether
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Diptera
Family
Chironomidae
Genus
Rheocricotopus
Species
villiculus
Taxon rank
species
Type status
holotype
Taxonomic concept label
Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) villiculus Wang, 2001 sec. Niitsuma & Tang, 2026

References

  • Wang X. & Saether O. A. 2001. Two new species of the orientalis group of Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) from China (Diptera: Chironomidae). Hydrobiologia 444: 237-240. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017548204492
  • Ashe P. & O'Connor J. P. 2012. A World Catalogue of Chironomidae (Diptera). Part 2 A, B. Orthocladiinae. Irish Biogeographical Society & National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.
  • Lin X., Yu H., Wang Q., Bu W. & Wang X. 2020. DNA barcodes and morphology confirm a new species of Rheocricotopus (Psilocricotopus) orientalis group (Diptera: Chironomidae). Zootaxa 4768 (2): 282-290. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4768.2.9