STUDIES ON CHIRONOMID LARVAE OF LIAONING PROVINCE

Larvae of Chironomids are important aquatic animals in both lentic and lotic freshwaters. Their significance as food of fish has not always been sufficiently emphasised, partly because of problems of identification encountered by scientists and fishermen. Chironomid larvae are also used in environmental protection as monitoring of water quality. Before the end of 1986, the number of Chironomid species reported in China was 176. This paper reports 40 species of larvae belonging to 29 genera of 4 subfamilies which were obtained from rivers, lakes and other waterbodies of Liaoning province in recent years and were new records in China. Information was given on the distribution and ecology of these species.