The Chironomidae Research Group in the News!

June 4, 2024
Honoring Prof. Len Ferrington
A special session to honor Len Ferrington was held at the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) meeting in Philadelphia, PA on June 4, 2024. Len was very involved in SFS and served as president, organized a meeting, and was elected as an SFS fellow in 2021. Over 46 years he never missed a meeting. Len was born and educated in Pennsylvania so holding a special session in this state was especially fitting. The session was organized by some of Len’s students including three UMN Department of Entomology alumni - Will Bouchard, Alyssa Anderson, and Corrie Nyquist. UMN alumni Tessa Durnin, Jessica Miller, and Hannah Bodmer presented or attended the session. Len’s widow, Deborah Ferrington was also in attendance. The session filled one day of the SFS meeting and consisted of 17 talks on the ecology and taxonomy of Chironomidae. Len’s research encompassed many areas of freshwater biology including biological monitoring and assessment, biodiversity and biotic surveys, fish diet analyses, gut fungi/chironomid interactions, phenology and life history studies, stream ecology and aquatic resource sustainability, systematics and taxonomy, and winter hardiness. Fittingly, the talks presented in the session covered most of these topics and in all cases had Chironomidae as a common thread. The research presented included work that Len had a direct hand in, that he inspired, or at least paralleled his work. The special session served to honor and carry on an important part of Len's legacy and hopefully, further inspire current and future Chironomidae researchers. 

Honoring Len Ferrington event in Philadelphia, PA on June 4 ,2024
Honoring Len Ferrington event in Philadelphia, PA on June 4 ,2024

1 June 2024 

New chironomid research from Will, Alex, Bruce, and Barbara:

Egan, A., D.R.L. Burge, M.B. Edlund, T. Lafrancois, and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2024. Distribution of water chemistry, trace metals, and Chironomidae in coastal freshwater rock pools. Freshwater Science 43.

Bouchard Jr, R.W., Namayandeh, A., and Hudson, P.L. 2024. Parachaetocladius lenferringtoni (Diptera: Chironomidae), a new orthoclad from North America, with keys to adult males and immatures of the Nearctic Parachaetocladius (Wülker, 1959). Zootaxa 5419: 245–264. 

Bouchard Jr., R.W. and L.C. Ferrington Jr. 2023. Temporal partitioning of Chironomidae emergence in an insular, tropical rainforest stream. CHIRONOMUS Journal of Chironomidae Research 37: 11-25. 

Bodmer, H.C. Nyquist, B. Vondracek and L. Ferrington, Jr. 2023. Exposure of cold-adapted Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski, 1915 (Diptera: Chironomidae) to short-term high temperature reduces longevity and reproduction. Aquatic Insects 44: 310-324.

Bouchard Jr., R.W., B.L. Hayford, and L.C. Ferrington Jr. 2022. Chironomus gelhausi, a new species of surface-mating Chironomus Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Mongolia. Zootaxa 5116: 123-135.

Bouchard Jr., R.W., B.L. Hayford and L.C. Ferrington Jr. 2022. Diversity of Chironomidae (Diptera) along a salinity gradient in lakes of the endorheic Great Lakes region of western Mongolia. Hydrobiologia 849: 2161-2175. 

Bouchard Jr., R.W., P. Kranzfelder and A. Anderson. 2021. Leonard C. Ferrington, Jr. (1948-2021): Chironomid cognoscente and modern-day Renaissance man. CHIRONOMUS Journal of Chironomidae Research 34: 51-66. 

Bouchard Jr., R.W., and J.K. Gelhaus. 2020. First record of a skating crane fly: The unusual ecology, behavior, and morphology of Phantolabis lacustris (Alexander, 1938) (Diptera: Limoniidae) with descriptions of the immature stages. Freshwater Science 39: 86-100.

Egan, A.T. and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2019. Chironomidae of the Upper Saint Croix River, Wisconsin. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 145: 353-384.

Egan, A.T. and P.H. Langton. 2018. Descriptions of four Nearctic Procladius Skuse pupal exuviae. CHIRONOMUS Journal of Chironomidae Research 31: 30-36.

 

1 July 2018

NEW RESEARCH PROJECT INITIATED!

With funding from the Minnesota LCCMR program, we have initiated a new three-year research project. The goal of the project is to better understand the dynamics of winter-developing aquatic insects that serve as the winter diets for trout.

The title of the project is: Variable Winter Thermal Regimes and Managing Trout Streams

 

July 28, 2015

New chironomid research from Alex and Len:

Egan, A. T., Ferrington Jr, L. C., Lafrançois, T., Edlund, M. B. 2015. Seasonal variation in chironomid emergence from coastal pools. European Journal of Environmental Sciences. 5(1): 15–23.

Ferrington Jr, L. C., Masteller, E. 2015. Emergence dynamics of Diamesa cheimatophila Hansen (Diptera: Chironomidae: Diamesinae). European Journal of Environmental Sciences. 5(1): 24–30.

July 27, 2015

Check out our JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) video-article:

Use of Chironomidae (Diptera) Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae as a Rapid Bioassessment Protocol for Water Bodies

April 1, 2015

Hot off the press! Check out Alex Egan‘s paper about chironomid community stratification from freshwater coastal rock pools.

Egan, A. and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2015. Zonal stratification and geographic clustering of a species-rich chironomid community in freshwater coastal rock pools. Hydrobiologia 751(1): 147-158.

March 30, 2015

Learn about the distribution and ecology of 102 chironomid species from freshwater coastal rock pools.

Egan, A. and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2015. Chironomidae (Diptera) in Freshwater Coastal Rock Pools at Isle Royale, Michigan. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 141: 1-25.

February 10, 2015

We have been busy publishing new chironomid research this year! Check out our most recent publications.

Kranzfelder, P. and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2015. Characterization of Chironomidae (Diptera) Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae Sample Sort Time from Coastal Tropical Aquatic Systems. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 87(3): 1-8.

Mazack J. E., P. Kranzfelder, A. M. Anderson, R. W. Bouchard, J. Perry, B. Vondracek, and L. C. Ferrington. 2015. Survivorship and longevity of adult Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski, 1915 (Diptera: Chironomidae) at controlled, sub-freezing temperatures. Aquatic Insects: 1-8.

Ferrington L. C. and W. P. Coffman. 2014. Differential Efficiencies of Dip-Net Sampling Versus Sampling Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae in a Biodiversity Survey of Chironomidae. CHIRONOMUS Newsletter on Chironomidae Research 27: 31-40.

Kavanaugh R. G., A. T. Egan, and L. C. Ferrington. 2014. Factors Affecting Decomposition Rates of Chironomid (Diptera) Pupal Exuviae. CHIRONOMUS Newsletter on Chironomidae Research 27: 16-24.

Egan A. T., L. C. Ferrington Jr, T. Lafrançois, M. B. Edlund, and J. McCullough. 2015. Spatial arrangement and metrics of freshwater coastal rock pools applied to amphibian conservation. Limnologica – Ecology and Management of Inland Waters 51: 101-109.

January 30, 2015

Check out Petra Kranzfelder‘s post about testing DNA extraction methods on chironomid skins on NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet‘s Evolution! blog: http://blogg.vm.ntnu.no/evolusjon/en/2015/01/30/is-there-dna-in-insect-skins/.

July 21, 2014

Check out Petra Kranzfelder‘s interview about a mid-summer mass emergence of mayflies from the Mississippi River: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/07/21/large-mayfly-hatch-possible-cause-of-pierce-co-car-crash/.

May 13, 2014

Come hear about our research at JASM 2014:

A. Anderson: Dynamics of Winter Emerging Chironomidae (Diptera) in Midwestern Trout Streams: A Summary of Over 15 Years of Research

L. Ferrington Jr.: A Predictive Model Relating Variable Thermal Regimes of Springs and Spring-Runs To Voltinism of a Cold Stenthermic Chironomid, Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski

P. Kranzfelder: Variability of Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) Emergence and Species Richness in a Neotropical Estuary

J. Mazack: Overwinter Emergence Dynamics of Adult Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) in Groundwater-Fed Streams of Southeastern Minnesota

B. Vondracek: Seasonal Ecology of Brown Trout and Aquatic Invertebrate Communities in Groundwater Dominated Streams of Southeastern Minnesota

Alex Egan, successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on chironomid communities in freshwater coastal rock pools. Congratulations Alex!

Back in January, Jessica Miller, successfully defended her Master’s thesis on the response of chironomid assemblages to land use in a urban stream. Check out her research here: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/163061.

March 26, 2014

Our latest publication describing chironomid species found on San Salvador Island, Bahamas:

Anderson, A.M., P. Kranzfelder, A. Egan, and L.C. Ferrington, Jr. 2014. A Survey of Neotropical Chironomidae (Diptera) on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Florida Entomologist 97(1): 304-308.

Available open access: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1896/054.097.0147

April 23, 2013

Our new paper on the longevity and survivorship of a winter-emerging species of chironomid:

Anderson, A., Kranzfelder, P., Bouchard Jr, R., & Ferrington Jr., L. (2013). Survivorship and longevity of Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski (Diptera: Chironomidae) under snow. Journal Of Entomological And Acarological Research, 45(1), e6. doi:10.4081/jear.2013.e6

April 18, 2013

Jane Mazack successfully defended her Master’s thesis on winter emergence, survival, and longevity of Diamesia mendotae in groundwater-fed streams. Congratulations!

December 27, 2012

Here is the latest addition to great chironomid research:

Anderson, A.M. & L.C. Ferrington. 2012. Resistance and Resilience of Winter-Emerging Chironomidae (Diptera) to a Flood Event: Implications for Minnesota Trout Streams. Hydrobiologia. DOI 10.1007/s10750-012-1406-4 (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10750-012-1406-4).

October 18, 2012

Proceedings of the Chironomidae symposium held in Trondheim last year now is published and available open access through the Fauna norvegica website: http://www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/fauna_norvegica.

Note the publication “Time-Efficiency of Sorting Chironomidae Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae Samples from Urban Trout Streams in Northeast Minnesota, USA” by Alyssa M. Anderson and Leonard C. Ferrington.

October 12, 2012

We are discovering global solutions in Canada and Costa Rica with chironomids!

September 26, 2012

Alyssa Anderson, successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on winter-emerging chironomid dynamics. Congratulations Alyssa!