Note that the adults of some species are unknown.
The adults of C. 'spilleri', are assumed to be similar to those of C. novae-zelandiae since Don Forsyth included them all under that name.
The Australian species C. 'pseudoppositus' has been recognized in New Zealand on the basis of mtCOI sequence, but the morphology has not been compared with that of Australian specimens.

There is also the large reared female, C. sp.NZ3a.

SV typeIn the adult descriptions reference is made to the types of superior volsella shape as recognized by Strenzke (1959).  This is a helpful initial classification, but experience has shown that the types are not discrete, but are part of a continuum.  The three categories as described by Strenzke are:
S-type: The SV is shoe shaped, i.e. it is drawn out distal-medially into a broad, rounded lobe (Fig. a-c, below) (Strenzke's figure suggests the most distal point will be at the toe of the shoe).
D-type: The SV is ribbon-like: distally it may have a weakly thickened shoulder (Fig. d, below) (most distal point is not at the internal margin), or bent in a shallow sickle-shape (Fig. e-f, below).
E-type: The SV has the form of an elephant's tusk; distally it is sharply graded to a point, or with an expanded knob (Fig. g-i, below) (line from base to most distal point goes outside the limits of the SV).

There is also the larva of the reared female, C. sp.NZ3a.

Reference is also made to the mentum and mandible types originally devised by Webb & Scholl (1985) and Vallenduuk & Moller Pillot (1997) and Proulx et al. (2013), as well as a ventromental plate character.  The previous classifications were made for relatively small numbers of species, but they do not cover all the variability seen in these characters and so further modification has been necessary.

The mentum type is defined only by the degree of development of the 4th lateral teeth:

The mentum may be further classified by the characters of the central trifid tooth:

Ventromental plate ratio (VMR) - ratio of the width of the marginal region of ventromentum (usually seen as a granular band under light microscopy) (a in figure below) to the distance from the anterior margin to the base of the striae (b in figure below).

Pecten epipharyngis -
Proulx et al. (2013) recognised 4 types of PE in North American species.  These are useful if the teeth are not worn down, as they often are in older larvae.  Type D does not occur in any known Australian species.

Type A - fine sharp rather uniform teeth.

Premandible -
Assessment of the premandible can be difficult due to quite excessive wear and distortion in mounting. Where they are in good condition and lying flat, they can be categorised into 5 groups based on the relative widths of the teeth and whether they come to a sharp or a broad point. The teeth are measured as close as possible to their bases.
Premandible types
Type A: Both teeth narrow and coming to a fine point.
Type B: inner tooth moderately broad, about 3-5 times wider than, outer tooth. This can be split into 2 subgroups:
B1 Ð both teeth come to relatively fine points.
B2 Ð the inner tooth comes to a relatively broad point.
Type C: Both teeth are moderately broad, coming to relatively broad points.
Type D: Inner tooth very broad, outer tooth moderately broad.
Type E: Both teeth very broad and often quite short.
C. vitellinus has a six toothed premandible (C. javanus has five teeth).
Species of Kiefferulus also have a five-toothed premandible, but it is broader.

Antennal ratio (AR) - measured on only the length of the sclerotized region of the segments, since the unsclerotized regions can expand to different extents in different specimens. Measured in this way the AR is usually higher.

The mandible type is defined by the degree of darkening and separation of the 3rd inner tooth:
It seems better to consider the two characters separately.
Separation:
Type I - tooth fused
Type II - tooth partially free
Type III - tooth completely separated
Color:
Type A - tooth pale
Type B - some degree of pigmentation
Type C - as dark as other inner teeth

This figure shows IA; IIB; IIIC respectively

Mandible length and Mdt-Mat:
Hirvenoja and Michailova (1998) illustrated that the distance between the tip of the dorsal tooth and the apical tooth could differ between related species (Mdt-Mat) (blue line in figure below).

PACIFIC CHIRONOMUS
New Zealand has strong ties to the islands of the Pacific Ocean.  This makes this listing a convenient place to record Chironomus species from these islands, although there appears to be no overlap of the Chironomid fauna (rather, many of them in fact are also found in South East Asia, so are also recorded in the listing of those species)

Chironomus bicoloris Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus carolinense Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus circumdatus (Kieffer, 1916, as Tendipes)

Chironomus claggi Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus crassicaudus Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus hawaiiensis Grimshaw 1901

Chironomus magnivalva Kieffer, 1917

Chironomus nigerilateralis Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus pallidinubeculosis Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus preapicalis Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus samoensis Edwards 1928

Chironomus sexipunctatus Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus trifasciatus Tokunaga 1964

Chironomus vitellinus Freeman 1961

Chironomus "harrisi" (sp. Fiji1)

Chironomus zealandicus Hudson, 1892

Chromosome banding patterns have been published using the Australian standard system of Martin (1964), but are in process of being switched to the more universally used (although more difficult to uniquely specify bands) system of Keyl (1962) and Devai et al. (1989).