Chironomidae (Insecta, Diptera) from Alto Paranapanema Basin, southeastern Brazil

We investigated the community of Chironomidae from three rivers belonging to the same river basin in Southern Brazil. Our objective was to analyze if the Chironomidae communities from rivers of the same basin were similar and relate this to land-use and water quality variables. Samples of insects were taken using artificial substrate baskets and left 44 days in the field for colonization during the dry season in 2002. Study reaches with the relevant land-use category present for at least 500 m along both river banks above and alongside the study reach were selected and land-use, terrain slope of the river basin and chemical and physical variables of the water were analysed. Faunal data were analyzed by number of individuals, richness of genera and community indices. Statistical analyses were performed in order to investigate the relationship between abiotic variables and the Chironomidae communities. Twenty-two genera were identified; Rheotanytarsus (Thienemann & Bause) was the most abundant in all assemblages. Some genera showed preferences in their distribution, and were observed in only one of the rivers. Land-use and slope of the terrain were similar for all rivers, while the water quality variables were different for the Taquari River compared to the two other sites. This may explain the differences in the Chironomidae community observed for this locality