Full Emergence timing and voltinism of phantom midges, Chaoborus spp., in the UK

Abstract

After introduction of overwintered fourth instar larvae (2027 in total), emergence timing of adult Chaoborus spp. (Diptera: Chaoboridae) was investigated in four outdoor freshwater microcosms in the UK in 2017. Adults started emerging on 13 April and emergence reached a peak on 2 May. The majority of emergence was completed by 3 June. Emergence rates for each microcosm ranged from 51.4% to 66.2% with a mean of 60.9%. The great majority of emerged adults were C. obscuripes (99.68%). Males appeared to emerge slightly earlier than females. The results indicated that for overwintered C. obscuripes larvae, the adults emerged en masse in spring (rather than emerging gradually over the course of spring and summer). In a separate experiment at the same location, the number of Chaoborus spp. life-cycles occurring per year was determined using six replicate groups of microcosms, each group containing four microcosms. Each microcosm contained 200 L of water and was enclosed within a pop-up frame covered with insect-proof mesh (1 mm2 aperture). The first microcosm in each group was seeded with egg rafts (first generation) of Chaoborus spp. Following adult emergence, as soon as the first egg rafts were laid in each microcosm these were removed and transferred to the second microcosm in that group, and so on. The larvae sampled from the second and subsequent generations in the microcosms were all C. crystallinus. C. crystallinus produced up to four discrete generations within the experimental period, and life-cycle times from egg-to-egg ranged from 14 days (replicate group 5, first generation) to 56 days (replicate 3, second generation). These two experiments, indicated that i) adult C. obscuripes arising from overwintered larvae emerged en masse in the spring, and ii) up to four generations of C. crystallinus occurred; i.e. C. crystallinus exhibited a multi-voltine life history under the temperate conditions of this UK study.