Polypedilum (Tripodura) Townes 1945
Creators: name: Mukherjee, Bindarika
name: Ray, Namrata
name: Mukherjee, Arka
name: Naskar, Atanu
name: Banerjee, Dhriti
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Chironomidae
Polypedilum

description: Key to the Indian male species of the subgenus Tripodura Townes, 1945
1. Anal point poorly developed, elongation extremely reduced (Oriental China and India)................................................................................................ .. P. (T). conghuaense Zhang & Wang, 2016
– Anal point well developed.............................................................................. 2
2(1). Superior volsella large................................................................................. 3
– Superior volsella short................................................................................. 4
3(2). Superior volsella cylindrical with uniform width, having 2–4 setae subapically and submedially (India).......................................................................... P. (T). chaudhurii Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
– Superior volsella narrow and sickle shaped without uniform width, having 1 seta submedially (India)... P. (T). prolixus sp. n.
4(2). Superior volsella subtriangular with 3 spines (India, Bhutan, Egypt, France, Germany, Romania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Niger, Sudan and Sweden)..................................................... P. (T). aegyptium Kieffer, 1925
– Superior volsella without spines.......................................................................... 5
5(4). Anal point tongue-like, medially constricted (Egypt, Cameroon, Congo, Sudan, Tanzania, Australia and India)................................................................................... P. (T). griseoguttatum Kieffer, 1921
– Anal point variable shaped.............................................................................. 6
6(5). Anal point hood-like and inverted (India)....................... P. (T). albipalpum Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
– Anal point paralled-sided............................................................................... 7
7(6). Anal point with pointed apex............................................................................ 8
– Anal point with rounded or blunt apex.................................................................... 10
8(7). Tergite IX with strong lateral projections (India)................. P. (T). tripunctum Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
– Tergite IX without lateral projections...................................................................... 9
9(8). Anal tergite with median setae; superior volsella with long setae (India, Pakistan, South Africa, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo)......................................................... P. (T). annulatipes (Kieffer, 1910)
– Anal tergite band without median setae; superior volsella with numerous short setae (India)..................................................................................... P. (T). numerum Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
10(7). Tergite IX without lateral projections; inferior volsella cylindrical shaped (India and China)..................................................................................... P. (T). lineatum Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
– Tergite IX with lateral projections; inferior volsella variable shaped............................................ 11
11(10). Tergite IX with strong lateral projection; inferior volsella broad apically (India)..............................................................................................… P. (T). lucidum Chaudhuri, Guha & Dasgupta, 1981
– Tergite IX with weak lateral projection; inferior volsella pointed at apex (India, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Africa and Zimbabwe)........................................................... P. (T). pruina Freeman, 1954
description: Published as part of Mukherjee, Bindarika, Ray, Namrata, Mukherjee, Arka, Naskar, Atanu & Banerjee, Dhriti, 2024, First report of acifer group of the subgenus Tripodura Townes (Diptera: Chironomidae: Polypedilum) from India, with a new species and updated world checklist, pp. 531-552 in Zootaxa 5512 (4) on page 541, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5512.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/13849198