Zavrelimyia Fittkau, 1962

Namayandeh, Armin, Hudson, Patrick L., Bogan, Daniel L. & Hudson, John P., 2024, Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) of Alaska, USA, with descriptions of new species and a checklist, Zootaxa 5511 (1), pp. 1-95 : 47

Zavrelimyia Fittkau, 1962

Morphological characters associated with species of Zavrelimyia and related genera have posed problems distinguishing the various related taxa and their relationship. Roback (1971, 1984) questioned some of the morphological characters used to identify both adults and pupal collections of Zavrelimyia (Zavrelimyia) thryptica (Sublette, 1964) . Cranston & Epler (2013) also discuss some of the problems associated with distinguishing species in this genus. Silva and Ekrem (2016), using phylogenetic analysis of morphological data, synonymized Paramerina and Rheomyia with Zavrelimyia but kept them as subgenera. Roback (1971, 1984) reported Z. thryptica along the Seward Highway near Anchorage in August and several creeks on Kodiak and Afognak Islands in July. We collected a pupal exuvia of Z. thryptica from Sixmile Creek in the Anchorage area in late August. We collected two adult male specimens of Zavrelimyia (Paramerina) divisa (Walker, 1856) next to Tangle River just off the Denali Highway and a pupa specimen from a small stream entering Skan Bay on Unalaska Island. These sites are approximately 1000 miles (1609 km) apart but have similar habitats of streams with constrictions forming small oxbow lakes along their course. This confirms some of the described habitats for the larva of this species, including pools in small lotic habitats ( Cranston & Epler 2013). Additional specimens recorded in Arctos include a pupa collected 100 m from the Pacific Ocean and several larvae of Zavrelimyia (Paramerina) sp. collected in streams of the Southeastern and Southcoastal bioregions ( Arctos 2023).

Zavrelimyia (Reomyia) wartinbei Roback, 1984 was initially described as a new species of Zavrelimyia from an adult pupal association collected from a small stream entering Anton Larsen Bay on Kodiak Island and pupal exuviae from Myrtle Creek on Kodiak Island ( Roback 1984). Fittkau & Murray (1986) assigned the pupal stages of this species to an unnamed taxon Tanypodinae III. Based on this Roback (1986) erected a new genus to accommodate this species with the caution that when all the immature stages of related genera Zavrelimyia, Paramarina , and Larsia become known, the genus Rheomyia may need to be revised. Our adult and pupa specimens were collected from Hanus Bay on Catherine Island, adjacent to Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. This area has several small first and second-order streams. We also collected two larvae from a first-order stream on Lena Point north of Juneau.