Midges associated with California rice fields, with special reference to their ecology (Diptera: Chironomidae)

does not appear. First page follows. Introduction According to(Jones et al. (1950))3 rice was first grown commercially in California in 1912. Until recently this crop was apparently free of insect pests. As indicated by (de Ong (1922)) and (Lange et al. (1953)) there were occasional outbreaks of the rice leaf miner (Hydrellia griseola Fallen) in 1922 and 1953. In 1959 a potential rice pest, the rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel), was discovered in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley. Most of the work combining entomology and rice culture in California, however, has been concerned with the problem of mosquito breeding in rice fields. Although chironomids have long been recognized as the predominant insects in and about rice fields, it was not until 1953 that plant injury by midge larvae was reported. At this time, severe damage to rice seeds and young seedlings by feeding of the larvae was observed in the Stockton area. Sporadic evidence of injury by the larvae was noted again in 1954, but losses were less than in 1953.4 The scarcity of information concerning the Chironomidae in California, as well as the indication that some species were of economic importance in rice culture, served as the stimulus for the present investigation which was begun in 1955. The objectives were to determine which species were actually inhabitants of rice fields, the ecological niche or role they occupied, and their effect on the rice plants. The field work, which extended through the summer