The genus Axarus is widely distributed with records from the Holarctic, the Neotropics and Australasia .

[3] Erected as a subgenus (Anceus) of Xenochironomus ,[4] Axarus was subsequently renamed and elevated to generic status .

[5] The Connecticut River in the eastern United States harbors locally dense populations of two Axarus species, both currently undescribed.

[6] The Connecticut River species are also notable in that they have extremely well developed polytene chromosomes and also maintain a high degree of inversion polymorphism .

[7][8] This article related to members of the fly family Chironomidae is a stub.