Detection of bloodworm larvae (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819) (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in Metro Manila

Background@#Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819) is an invasive freshwater snail in the Philippines that damages crops but is consumed as food. It is known to harbor parasites, some of which are pathogenic to humans. @*Objectives@#The objective of this study is to examine P. canaliculata individuals present in Metro Manila for parasite infection and identify the parasites and other organisms associated with the snail using molecular identification. @*Methodology@#P. canaliculata were collected from rivers and marketplaces in Metro Manila. Individuals were crushed and digested in Ash's digestive fluid and observed under a microscope. Collected parasites were subjected to DNA barcoding of the COI gene for putative identification. @*Results@#A total of 462 snails were gathered from 15 sites, eight of which were market areas that sourced the snails from outside Metro Manila. No known parasites were found. Two snails were found to contain insect larvae in the mantle (0.43% infection). The closest BLAST matches for the two insect larvae were the chironomid fly Nilodorum tainanus (91.0% identity) from a snail in Sucat, Muntinlupa, and another chironomid Parachironomus sp. (92.8% identity) found in a snail originally from Cavite and brought to Calumpang, Marikina. @*Conclusion@#This study is the first report of the presence of chironomids in Philippine P. canaliculata. This could have an impact on the allergenic status of these mollusks if consumed while containing these chironomids. The absence of infection of other medically important parasites is possibly due to the patchy distribution of the snails and few interactions with the definitive hosts of known parasites.

Redescription of Chironomus salinarius (Diptera: Chironomidae), nuisance midges that emerged in brackish water of Jinhae-man (Bay), Kyongsangnam-do, Korea

Huge numbers of non-biting midges emerged from brackish water which were made at the harbor construction field in Jinhae City, Kyongsangnam-do, Korea in late summer in 2005, and caused a serious nuisance to villagers. The midges were collected and identified as Chironomus salinarius (Kieffer, 1921). Although this species was recorded in Korea for the first time in 1998, the morphological descriptions were so brief and simple. A full redescription is made with detailed illustrations for ecological and control workers of this nuisance midge.

Sobre uma nova espécie do gênero Aedokritus Roback, 1958 (Diptera: Chironomidae) / On a new species of the genus Aedokritus Roback, 1958 (Diptera: Chironomidae)

In this paper we describe a new species of a non-biting midge of the genus Aedokritus Roback, 1958 (Chironominae, Chironomidae) from Brazil and Bolívia. That is the fifth species of this genus. The other species of the genus are: A. penicilligerus (Edwards, 1931), from Argentina and Peru; A. pruinescens (Edwards, 1931), from Argentina; A. platycnemis (Edwards, 1931), from Argentina; and A. sartis Roback, 1960, from Brazil.