Chironomidae-Trichomycete associations: A literature review

Published records of Chironomidae serving as hosts for Trichomycete fungi are summarized and citations to original literature provided. Fifty-one species of Trichomycetes from the order Harpellales are reported to occur in 32 genera within the subfamilies Orthocladiinae (12 genera), Chironominae (10), Diamesinae (7), and Tanypodinae (3). Thirty of the Trichomycete species are known only from hosts within a single subfamily or tribe, and no species occur in hosts from all four subfamilies. Orthocladiinae serve as hosts for 29 Trichomycete species, Chironominae hosts 21 species, Diamesinae 13 species, Tanytarsini 11 species, Tanypodinae 4 species, and Pseudochironomini hosts one Trichomycetes species. Orthocladiinae also has the greatest number of Trichomycete species that occur only in species of this subfamily with 14. Chironomini and Tanytarsini show the greatest overlap in Trichomycete infestations, followed by Diamesinae and Orthocladiinae. Fifteen additional species of Trichomycetes are recorded in the literature from chironomids but no host genera are listed, bringing the total to 66 species of Trichomycetes associated with Chironomidae. The fungal genus Smittium has the greatest number of species associated with Chironomidae hosts, with 43 Smittium species infesting chironomid larvae compared to Stachylina (16), Austrosmittium (4), Furculomyces (2) and Trichozygospora (1). Twenty three new, but incomplete, records included in this publication are not included in the totals given above.