<i>Archaeochlus</i> Brundin: a midge out of time (Diptera: Chironomidae)

Abstract

Abstract. Archaeochlus , a plesiomorphic genus of Podonominae (Chironomidae), is revised and two new species (biko from Namibia and brundini from southwestern Australia) described. The systematic status of the genus and the tribe Boreochlini is reassessed. Biogeographic evidence, sustained by a fossil record, dates the genus at least to the Upper Jurassic. The ecology of early Chironomidae is suggested to be eurythermic and hygropetric rather than cold stenothermic in lotic waters.