Author: Macquart, 1838
Diagnosis
Pupae: (Procladius exuviae, photo; X. xenolabis exuviae, photo) Of the obtect type, i.e. with the head appendages, wings, and legs visible inside sheaths that are attached to the body surface. Body consists of a cephalothorax and a 9-segmented abdomen (apparently only 8-segmented in the Telmatogetoninae), the anal segment composed of a pair of flattened anal lobes and a genital sheath. The pupae of the Tanypodinae are free-living at the water surface, in the other subfamilies the pupation takes place inside the larval tube.
Cephalothorax with a pair of prothoracic horns, or horns absent in the terrestrial forms. In most Podonominae, Telmatogetoninae, and Tanypodinae it is a double-walled, tubular structure with an apical or subapical sieve plate. In the other chironomids the horn is a filamentous, closed, hollow structure. The horn is unbranched except for the Chironomini where it is branched at least once, usually in the form of a dense tuft. Leg sheaths rarely reaching the tips of the wing sheaths, at least the hind legs curved under the wing sheaths.
The first 8 abdominal segments are very similar, segments II-VI (or VIII) often with distinctive groupings of large spines, recurved hooks, or shagreened spinules on the dorsal sclerite. Segment VIII often armed with teeth on the postero-lateral corners, sometimes teeth forming a contiguous comb. The anal lobes often with a fringe of long hairs, or one or more macrosetae which are often apically hooked. The genital plates may extend well beyond the posterior margin of the anal lobes.
Measurements: Pupae range in length from about 1-25 mm.