SPECIES ID / Invertebrates

True Flies

Biting Midges

Pxwíqs

• 579 species known in North America

Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Diptera
Family:Ceratopogonidae

Identification Tips:

Larvae
• 2 - 15 mm length
• Variable body structure
• Most common type is long, thin with distinct head capsule
• Skin smooth, cream coloured, and shiny
• No prolegs or other features
• Sometimes tuft of hairs on tip of abdomen

Life History:

Larvae
• Found burrowing in or on the surface of soft sediments of ponds, lakes, wetlands and slow moving streams
• Some are common in thick algae mats
• Predatory on larvae or eggs of other insects

Adults
• Females of most species feed on blood of mammals, birds, other vertebrates,or even other insects
• Many generations per year

POLLUTION TOLERANCE
Very SensitiveSomewhat SensitiveFacultativeSomewhat TolerantVery Tolerant
  MostSome 

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Primary Information Source:
Voshell, J. Reese. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. Blacksburg, Virginia.