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Page count: 512

The phantom midges (Diptera: Chaoboridae) are a relatively small fly family composed of 50 extant species in six genera. Larvae are of interest to limnologists and ecologists because of their tolerance to toxicants, predatory avoidance strategies, and the role chaoborids play in zooplankton community dynamics. Relative to mosquitoes, systematists have paid relatively little attention to this group. Recent work on the internal classification of the chaoborids has provided a wealth of character information and putative homologies, but the relationships among the Chaoboridae genera have not been rigorously analyzed and support for the monophyly of the family is weak. The objectives of this research are three fold: 1) test the monophyly of Chaoboridae; 2) examine subfamilial and species relationships within the family; 3) develop and explore new character systems useful across the Culicoidea.