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These larvae were found in bromeliad phytotelma, in Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. They were tiny (3~4 mm), and crawl in the bottom.
They were released after the photos, unfortunately I don´t have any lateral image, but I think they are Chironomidae. I never saw Chironomidae with these huge setae, any guess in the ID?

Thank you very much!

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Hi walter
definitally Chironomidae. My first guess would be tanypodinae, but the individuals are very immature, possibly 1st or 2nd stage larvae. Could also be some kind of Orthocladiinae. I will look through my literature if such larvae have ever been described. Are you able to make a slide and take a detailed photo of the head and abdomen?

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genera with species having long seta are for instance Procladius, Conchapelopia, Paralimnophyes, Fittkaumyia, Xylotopus, Tvetenia.
This site may help: http://chirokey.s...land.info/

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Thank you, atylotus!
You helped me a lot! Now I have somewhere to start to search.

Unfortunately I don´t have better images, the last picture is in the full resolution of the image.

I found some intersting papers about "Phytotelmatocladius" from North and South American bromeliad. They mention similarities with "Paralimnophyes", one of the genera you cited with long setae.

I will try to find some more information.

Thank you very much! I really appreciated it!

All the best,
Walther