Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929

Brodin, Yngve, 2025, Procladius (Diptera, Chironomidae) of Europe and a global view, Zootaxa 5591 (1), pp. 1-127 : 62-63

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Edwards (1929), England and Ireland, adult male, adult female, description.

Psilotanypus flavifrons ( Edwards, 1929) — Goetghebuer & Lenz (1936a), England, adult male, adult female, key, description, illustration.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Brundin (1949), Sweden, adult male, key.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Coe (1950), England and Ireland, adult male, key, illustration.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Pinder (1978), England, adult male, key, illustrations.

Procladius bellus ( Loew, 1866) — Murray & Fittkau (1989), adult male, illustrations.

Procladius choreus ( Meigen, 1804) — Murray & Fittkau (1989), adult male, illustration.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Langton (1991), pupa, key, illustrations.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Langton & Visser (2003), pupa, key, illustrations.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Langton & Pinder (2007), England, adult male, key, illustrations.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Baranov (2013), Ukraine, adult male, illustration.

Procladius flavifrons Edwards, 1929 — Ratnasingham et al. (2024), Finland, Norway and Sweden, adult males, adult females, photos.

? Procladius albinervis Kieffer, 1918 — Kieffer (1918a), Lithuania, adult female, key, description.

? Procladius albinervis Kieffer, 1918 — Goetghebuer (1927 a), France and Germany, adult female, key, description.

Material examined (n = 27). DENMARK, 1 adult male (as Trichotanypus sp. , ZMLU), Copenhagen district , 55.67°N 12.57°E, 5 m a.s.l., +9 °C m.a.t., circa 1920 .— ENGLAND, 3 adult males (Syntypes of P. flavifrons, BMNH ), Lake Windermere , 54.35°N 2.94°W, 39 m a.s.l., +9 °C m.a.t., 9.vii.1923, leg. F.W. Edwards. — FINLAND, 2 adult males ( WIFE), Lake Kuusijärvi , 60.31°N 25.11°E, 44 m a.s.l., +5 °C m.a.t., 18.vii.1965, leg. P. Armitage ; 1 adult male ( MZHF), Lake Kuusijärvi , 60.32°N 25.09°E, 44 m a.s.l., +5 °C m.a.t., 28.vii.1966, leg. B. Lindeberg ; 4 adult males (as P. cf. lugens, MZHF ), Lake Puruvesi , Punkasalmi, Akonniemi, 61.74°N 29.35°E, 75 m a.s.l., +3 °C m.a.t., 10.vii.1974, leg. B. Lindeberg ; 2 adult males ( ZMUO), Asikkalanselkä , 61.26°N 25.60°E, 74 m a.s.l., +4 °C m.a.t., 20.vii.2015, leg. L. Paasivirta [ Barcode CHIFI548-16 and CHFI549-16 ] .— FRANCE, 1 adult male ( NHRS), Remoray National Reserve , 46.78°N 6.27°E, 853 m a.s.l., +7 °C m.a.t., 23.iii.2017, leg. B. Tissot ; 1 adult male ( NHRS), Lake Remoray , 46.77°N 6.26°E, 850 m a.s.l., +7 °C m.a.t., 7.iv.2017, leg. B. Tissot ; 2 adult males ( NHRS), Lake Remoray , 46.77°N 6.26°E, 850 m a.s.l., +7 °C m.a.t., iv.2019, leg. B. Tissot [1 Barcoded ] ; 1 adult male ( NHRS), springs at Lake Remoray , 46.77°N 6.26°E, 852 m a.s.l., +7 °C m.a.t., iv.2019, leg. B. Tissot [ Barcoded ] .— NORWAY, 2 adult males ( NTNU), Lake Jonsvatn , near Flaten, 63.40°N 10.55°E, 149 m a.s.l., +4 °C m.a.t., 3‒17.vii.2014, leg. E. Stur [ Barcode CHMNO216-15 and CHMNO217-15 ] ; 1 adult male ( NTNU), Lake Jonsvatn , near Flaten, 63.40°N 10.55°E, 149 m a.s.l., +4 °C m.a.t., 31.vii‒14.viii.2014, leg. E. Stur [ Barcode CHMNO343-15 ] .— SPAIN, 2 adult males (as Procladius sp. , DEBE), La Minilla Reservoir , 37.44°N 6.10°W, 165 m a.s.l., +17 °C m.a.t., 27.xi.1974, leg. N. Prat. — SWEDEN, 1 adult male ( NHRS), Lake Färnebofjärden , Dragsheden, 60.24°N 16.79°E, 60 m a.s.l., +5 °C m.a.t., 22.vi.2008, leg. Y. Brodin [ Barcoded ] ; 1 adult male ( NHRS), Lake Vättern , Motala, Råssnäs, 58.53°N 14.98°E, 88 m a.s.l., +6 °C m.a.t., 30.vii.2012, leg. Y. Brodin [ Barcode BSCHI776-17 ] ; 2 adult males ( NHRS), Lake Siljan , 60.78°N 14.93°E, 162 m a.s.l., +4 °C m.a.t., 6.vii.2020, leg. Y. Brodin [1 Barcoded ] .

Diagnostic characters. Figs. 4 , 44 , 119‒121 , key couplet 25. P. flavifrons is efficiently identified by the numerous distinct setae of the katepisternum and the lack of macrotrichia on the wing membrane. Other species of Procladius in Europe without wing membrane microtrichia lack katepisternal setae. Two of these species, P. lugens and P. imicola , have similar gonostyli, but P. flavifrons is mostly smaller (wing length 1.7‒2.3 mm versus 2.1‒3.4 mm) and has a lower antennal ratio (AR 1.3‒1.7 versus 1.7‒2.6).

The adult female has been briefly described and the pupal exuvia in detail. The larva is not known. Barcodes of adult males and adult females are available.

Geographical distribution and ecology. The geographical distribution of P. flavifrons extends from southern Spain at latitude 37°N to Norway at 63°N and Finland at 64°N. Findings are reported from 17 countries or autonomous regions in Europe. It is mainly an inland freshwater species found up to 920 m above sea level, but some findings are from brackish water at or near the Atlantic coast of Ireland and the Baltic coast of Poland. The climate of sites with findings ranges from +17 °C and almost subtropical to temperate and +4 °C .

Larvae of P. flavifrons inhabit standing freshwater habitats in lakes, reservoirs, ponds and sometimes brackish bays of the sea. There are reports of occurrence in manmade constructions such as fountain ponds in Denmark. P. flavifrons has also been found close to a mountain spring in France and in a rice field in Hungary. Emergence has been reported from 1‒4 m water depth from bottoms with mud or vegetation dominated by Cladophora .

Nutrient conditions in lakes and reservoirs with findings of P. flavifrons are mostly mesotrophic to eutrophic, but same are from oligotrophic conditions. Food sources of the larvae are unknown. Adults have been reported from late March in Ukraine to early December in southern Spain where it can develop at least two generations per year.

Countries or autonomous regions with records of P. flavifrons in Europe are Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Wales. It is also known from Asian Russia.

References. Anikina 2009b; Armitage 1968; Baranov 2013; Berczik 1973; Brundin 1947; Brundin 1949; Bukvová & Hamerlík 2015; Coe 1950; Edwards 1929; Goetghebuer & Lenz 1936a; Humphries 1936; Kieffer 1918a; Langton 1993; Langton & Pinder 2007; Langton & Visser 2003; Langton et al. 2013; Moubayed-Breil et al. 2019; Murray & Fittkau 1989; Murray et al. 2018; Paasivirta 2012; Pinder 1978; Prat 1979; Ratnasingham et al. 2024; Ruse 2013; Sandberg 1969; Serra-Tosio & Gay 1978; Tomlin et al. 2024; Vallenduuk & Moller Pillot 2007; Zilahi-Sebess 1944.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Left side of thorax of Procladius flavifrons, male from Norway, with characters useful for species identification indicated, cf. Table 2 T1, T4‒T11.

FIGURES 44‒46. Male genitalia of Procladius species. 44: P. flavifrons from France. 45: P. lugens from Sweden. Fig. 46: P. imicola from Sweden.

FIGURES 119‒121. Male genitalia left gonostylus of Procladius flavifrons. Fig. 119: France. Fig. 120: Norway. Fig. 121: England.