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Berlin - May 2018

I'm hoping to place it in a genus. I have a specimen but i do not have keys.
let me know what to photograph to help.

Thank you for your time.

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Ablabesmyia

The most recent key I have seen is for slide-mounted specimens. Illustrations show variation in the shape of the gonostylus which may be useful and visible under a microscope. You should also compare to Ablabesmyia peleensis, a species which has been recorded from Europe but does not appear in European keys.

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Thanks John. I will try to get it under the microscope today. Otherwise, i will update the thread when i can examine it in the future. I like Chironomids but i only ever find keys to larva from angling/fishing journals. Can you recommend a publication? I remember finding something from an expert in Florida but the price for the book is way too high - somewhere around 600 dollars? And he may not cover Euro species anyway.

i saw your post at bugguide (node 393504).
I found this on a tree next to a pond. I nicknamed it ghost chironomid because it looks transparent white in the sunshine. I lost it three times, then it landed in front of me :)

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I finally got around to examining the specimen. I will attch photos to this post.
Hopefully we can pinpoint a species.

attachment one = antennae. the tip of the antennae seems to be widened with white material.

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close up of wing

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terminalia microscope

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terminalia dissected

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added 10x zoom of Gonocoxal basal structure

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I wonder if this is Ablabesmyia longistyla.

the gonostylus is not longer than the gonocoxite but it is even in length. vide attachment photo

I do not think that it matches A. monilis and i don't have drawings of A. phatta or A. peleensis. I see drawings for A. longistyla and A. monilis in a pdf entitled "Revision of the Genus Ablabesmyia in Korea".