Non-biting Green Midge
Female, Emarginate Eye
Ellura
Non-biting Green Midge
Female, ventral
 
                      
Non-biting Green Midge (Tanytarsus sp)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Flies (Diptera)
Family: Midge (Chironomidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Non-biting Green Midge (Tanytarsus sp)
This Photo:     Female, Hairy Speckled Body

Thank you Tony Daley for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~2.3mm long, ~4.5mm wingspan.
We were surprised it was a midge, as when we first saw it on the night sheet it's head was up.
Deeply emarginate eyes.
The female as a wider body than the male, and doesn't have the plumose antennae.
Don't confuse the moth scale contamination with cross veins on the wings, we don't think there are any cross veins, all longitudinal.
The wings, legs and body are covered in fine hair. While not plumose, the antennae do have some fine filaments.

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 27-May-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.