Chironomids are a large group of invertebrates that live in various aquatic habitats. The distribution range of these invertebrates has become varied due to anthropogenic impacts; as such, their distribution can be used as an indicator of environmental health. Adult chironomids are well known in South Korea; however, the larvae have rarely been studied due to difficulties associated with morphological classification. To address this lack of information, we collected larvae from four important rivers in South Korea and summarized their taxonomic morphological characteristics. The antennae, mandible, and mentum were used for larval taxonomic characterization. In this study, we describe the basic morphological features and key pictorial features of 20 species of chironomids, representing 16 genera.