-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Flies Order (Diptera)

-Nematoceran Flies (Suborder Nematocera)​

-Mosquitoes and Midges (Infraorder Culicomorpha)

-Superfamily Culicoidea

-Phantom Midges (Family Chaoboridae)

-Genus Chaoborus

-Subgenus Sayomyia

-Chaoborus festivus

Chaoborus festivus is a species of non-biting midge in the family Chaoboridae, commonly referred to as a phantom midge due to the remarkable transparency of its larvae. Found in freshwater habitats such as ponds and lakes, it spends most of its life cycle in the aquatic larval stage, where it plays an important ecological role as a predator in plankton communities. Adults are small, delicate, mosquito-like flies, but unlike true mosquitoes they do not bite or feed on blood. Their primary role is reproduction, and they typically live only briefly after emerging from the water.