Preliminary investigations of the chironomid larvae fauna (Chironomidae, Diptera) from the Mavrovo reservoir – Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Larval stages of the Chironomidae (Diptera) can be found in almost any aquatic habitat, includ- ing artificial lakes. They form an important fraction of the macrozoobenthos of most freshwater ecosystems. The Mavrovo reservoir as an artificial lake in the Republic of Macedonia, to date, has never been an object of hydrobiological research of this type. For that reason, the purpose of this study was to conduct research on the composition and structure of the chironomid larvae fauna that inhabits the Mavrovo reservoir. The quantitative samples for this research were collected during one year (2017/18), seasonally from five different localities (T1–T5) – T1-Ulazna, T2-Hotel Radika, T3-Middle of the reservoir, T4-Bunec, and T5-Old church (village Mavrovo). According to the results, Chironomidae was represented with five subfamilies, two tribes, and 25 taxa. The subfamilies are Chironominae with the two tribes Chironomini and Tanytarsini, Tanypodinae, Orthocladiinae, Diamesinae, and Prodiamesinae. The dominant taxon is Tanytarsus sp., and besides it, the following taxa: Procladius sp., Chironomus plumosus, Harnischia sp., Polypedilum nubeculosum, and Orthocladius saxicola are characterized by greater community participation. The highest density of chironomid larvae fauna was recorded during the summer, a total of 1013.69 ind/m2, compared to the lowest registered in the spring season which is only 9.78 ind/m2.

Keywords

• reservoir
• chironomids
• community structure
• dominance
• seasonal density