TY - JOUR AU - Kownacki, Andrzej AU - Szarek-Gwiazda, Ewa AU - Dykas, Michał AU - Jabłońska-Barna, Izabela AU - Michailova, Paraskeva PY - 2018/05/31 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Comparison of selected parts of larval morphology in some species of the genus Chironomus (Diptera: Chironomidae) using Scanning Electron Microscope: Morphology of Chironomus larvae using SEM JF - Journal of Limnology JA - J Limnol VL - 77 IS - s1 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.4081/jlimnol.2018.1739 UR - https://www.jlimnol.it/jlimnol/article/view/jlimnol.2018.1739 SP - AB - <p>Comparison of small sized and weakly chitinized structures such as the labrum (labral setae SI-SIII, labral lamella, tormal bar, pecten epipharings) and the maxilla (maxillary palp, lacinial chaeta) is provided in larvae of <em>Chironomus plumosus, C. balatonicus</em>, <em>C. usenicus C. melanotus</em>, <em>C. acerbiphilus</em>, and <em>C. riparius</em> using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The general morphological structures of the labrum and the maxilla were similar in all of the <em>Chironomus</em> larvae. They differed only in fine details such as labral seta, mainly S I. Seta S I is always plumose on each side and differently figured: elongated in <em>C. balatonicus</em>, <em>C. plumosus</em>, <em>C. melanotus</em> and <em>C. usenicus</em>; rounded in <em>C. acerbiphilus</em> and <em>C. riparius</em>. Some differences were also observed in the shape, length or ratio of lacinial chaetae (LCh I, LCh II). Based on morphological variation in the larvae of some <em>Chironomus </em>species, results indicated that the SEM method is apparently beneficial and useful in the analysis of smaller and weakly chitinized morphological structures such as the labrum and the maxilla.</p> ER -