C. flaviplumus Tokunaga 1940 Was placed as a synonym of Chironomus samoensis Edwards by Hashimoto (1977), but this synonymy was considered doubtful by Sasa (1978). According to Sasa (1978), Tokunaga's description was very brief and un-illustrated. Notes that tergal side of abdominal segments II to IV each with a small, oval, dark central spot; antennal ratio is about 3.5 and larger than 2.9 of C. dorsalis (Sasa assumes this is C. yoshimatsu). The major reason for doubting the synonymy of C. flaviplumus with C. samoensis is the higher AR (abt 3.5-4) (Sasa 1978), and the difference in the anterior fore leg ratios of the female. He also notes a difference in the distribution of C. flaviplumus and the Japanese C. samoensis, in that C. flaviplumus has a more northerly, cooler, distribution (Although Sasa & Hasagawa (1983) later synonymised C. flaviplumus with C. samoensis on the basis of specimens collected on the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, which is likely a mixed sample). Found: JAPAN - Saga, Kyoto (Type locality) If correctly identified, this species can be bred in the laboratory, as Japanese specimens have been maintained in a laboratory culture (Kuhn et al. 1987). Four species have been found described under this name based on the available BARCODE sequences, two in Japan, one in China and the Korean material of Ree & Kim (1981), which is actually C. yoshimatsui. |