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The identity of Chironomus atrella Townes has been confusing because the name has been used for at least 2 quite different species. This situation is clarified karyosystematically by describing the banding patterns and chromosomal polymorphisms from a number of locations in Canada and the US. Most populations show only moderate levels of polymorphism (average heterozygosity, 0.36), although in some samples from shallow waters, the level of polymorphism is much higher (average heterozygosity, up to 0.92). The banding patterns of the polytene chromosomes are either identical or closely related to those found in Holarctic species with a northern distribution. These patterns and the distribution of inversions in the C. atrella populations are consistent with a progenitor that colonized North America across the Bering Strait and spread down the Rocky Mountain chain; at the same time, new gene combinations developed that allowed it to spread eastward over the majority of the continent.