CHIRONOMIDAE (INSECTA, DIPTERA) FAUNA OF LOWER DNIPRO. PART 1: SUBFAMILY TANYPODINAE

I. V. Shevchenko

Abstract

The work is the first part of a series of articles intended to comprehensively describe the current state of Chironomidae fauna of the Lower Dnipro on the basis of the long-term studies of larval forms of this group of Diptera insects, widely represented in water bodies of this estuary.

Based on the current research, the species composition of larvae of Diptera insects of the Tanypodinae (Diptera, Chironomidae) subfamily, represented in the benthic fauna of various water bodies of the Lower Dnipro, is described. The research was conducted on 18 water bodies, located in the delta and pre-delta areas of the Dnipro River. For the delta area, the following water bodies were researched: mainstream of the Dnipro River, the Viryovchina River, Kherson-Bilozerskyi floodplain area (the Koshova River, Lake Rohozuvate, Lake Bezmen, Lake Chychkuvate, Lake Stebliivskyi Liman), Kardashynskyi floodplain area (the Chaika River, the strait into Lake Kruhle, the Hadiuchka Strait, Lake Kruhle, Lake Kardashynskyi Liman), Velykyi Potyomkinskyi floodplain area (Lake Zakitne and Lake Nazarove-Pohorile) and Holoprystanskyi floodplain area (Lake Liahushache). For the pre-delta area, the mainstream of the Dnipro River, the Kozak River and Lake Sabetskyi Liman were researched. Based on the obtained data, a characteristic for each of the species of Tanypodinae is given, which includes: the distribution; the seasonality; indicators of quantitative development; the abiotic factors and the species of higher aquatic vegetation inherent in the places of detection of the larvae; the area. The mass and the less developed species of Tanypodinae subfamily and their distributional pattern in the water bodies have been determined. The indexes of occurrence in the benthic samples for the larvae of these species were determined. The comparisons of the indexes for individual water bodies, groups of water bodies (streaming system of the Dnipro River, the tributaries and the straits, the Viryovchina River, the pre-delta area, the delta floodplain areas) and for the water bodies as a whole, were made. The species composition of Tanypodinae larvae of anthropogenically polluted areas of the Lower Dnipro, in particular, its differences for the watercourses and lakes, were noted.