A simple method for slide-mounting chironomid hypopygia in lateral view (and for similar preparations)

Abstract

From the very beginnings of my work in chironomid taxonomy, I have always found it highly informative, frequently even indispensable, to examine and document structures of three-dimensional complexity, such as the adult male hypopygium, from more than just one angle. For example, in the convoluted case of Parachironomus monochromus (van der Wulp) and P. tenuicaudatus (Malloch), sorting specimens and resolving the conflicts among various usages of these names were aided greatly by studying the hypopygia in lateral view (Spies 2000, e.g. figs. 1-4; for further examples, see Spies et al. 1994).