Chironomus kiiensis Tokunaga

    Chironomus calipterus - misidentification in Bugledich et al. 1999.
    Chironomus pallidinubeculosus - synonymy by Hashimoto et al. 1981.

Characterized by the patterned wings.    This pattern is very similar to that of the African species C. calipterus Kieffer, resulting in the Asian and Australo-Pacific material being synonymised with the African species.    However the polytene chromosomes indicate that they are distinct species.    There is a precedent from Drosophila for species to show the same wing pattern as a result of independent mutations of the same same gene (Prud´homme et al. 2006.) The senior available name for the Asian and Australo-Pacific material is C. kiiensis Tokunaga.    The synonymy of the Japanese, Australian, and Indian material is supported by comparisons of mitochondrial DNA sequences and cytology.



Original description of C. kiiensis male from Tokunaga 1936


Male hypopygium of an Australian specimen of C. kiiensis (left) and superior appendage (right)

Characters from single available Australian male:
Face yellowish brown, antennae and palps brown.    AR about 3.1.    Frontal tubercles about 35 μm.

Thorax yellowish green with brown stripes, lateral stripes darker along the medial edge, and ending in a darker spot; postnotum and sternopleuron brown.    Bristles:    Acrostichals - 9; Dorsocentrals - 11; Prealar - 5; Scutellar - 2 in anterior row, 6 in posterior row.

Legs yellow, femur with a dark band just before the knee; tarsal joints darkened.
Leg lengths (microns) and proportions as follows:

 

Fe

Ti

Ta1

Ta2

Ta3

PI

980

820

1320

720

540

PII

1000

1000

520

340

270

PIII

1100

1180

940

560

460

 

Ta4

Ta5

LR

F/T

BR

PI

260

250

1.6

1.2

2.64

PII

190

140

0.5

1.0

 

PIII

280

160

0.8

0.93

 

Wings with dark spot over the crossvein and with obvious dark clouds and seams, particularly in cell R5.    Length about 2.45 mm, width about 0.6 mm; VR about 1.05.    2 setae on stem vein.
Haltere pale.

Abdomen brown, no obvious bands on the segments.    6 setae on 9th tergite.

Adult female:


Description of the female of C. kiiensis from Tokunaga 1936.


Female hypopygium of C. kiiensis (ventral aspect) from Tokunaga 1936.

Found: Queensland - Noosaville.

            Originally described from Seto, Wakayama (Tokunaga 1936), Japan.    Also found at Delhi, India;  Minden, Penang, Malaysia;  and Pattani, Thailand.

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Modified: 27 July 2009
Access: Unrestricted
Copyright © 2005-2009, Jon Martin.