On the move north – new Chironomid record for the Faroes
Pupal skin of the new species, Metriocnemus carmencitabertarum. Photo: Agnes-Katharina Kreiling.
A rather spectacular new species of Chironomidae, Metriocnemus carmencitabertarum, has been recorded for the Faroes.
The species was first found in Portugal in 1989 and described by Peter Langton as new to science. Since then, it has spread rapidly northwards, being recorded from Northern Spain in 1994, from Southern England in 2010, and from Northern Ireland in 2018. The Faroese specimens were collected in July 2022 in a small water-filled bassin in the garden of the author’s in-laws in Sandavágur. This is the most Northernly record of the species so far – as it has not yet been found in Iceland, although it will probably arrive there soon.
The species has a fast life cycle, as the larvae are inhabiting very temporary habitats such as rainwater-filled flower pots and wheelbarrows. Both larvae and adult females are black in colour, whereas the pupal exuviae (based on which the record was made) is conspicously inconspicous as it lacks the tooth-like structures which are otherwise characteristic for the genus.
The locality of the first Faroese record, a small water-filled bassin in a garden in Sandavágur. Photo: L.Janus Hansen
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