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Issue: Vol. 3931 No. 4: 16 Mar. 2015
Type: Article
Published: 2015-03-16
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3931.4.5
Page range: 551–567
Abstract views: 57
PDF downloaded: 1

Nanocladius (Plecopteracoluthus) shigaensis sp. nov. (Chironomidae: Orthocladiinae) whose larvae are phoretic on nymphs of stoneflies (Plecoptera) from Japan

Faculty of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto-fu 610-0300, Japan.
Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Course of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Environmental Science and Ecology Sub-Course Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu City 501-1112, Japan.
3-2-4-303 Ikuta, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 214-0034, Japan.
Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
Diptera symbiosis coronal triangle filaments capsule index cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) genetic distance

Abstract

We identified a new species, Nanocladius (Plecopteracoluthus) shigaensis, from Shiga and Gifu Prefectures, Japan, whose larvae are phoretic on nymphs of Plecoptera. Although this new species is morphologically similar to Nanocladius (Plecopteracoluthus) asiaticus Hayashi (1998), which is phoretic on Megaloptera larvae, it differs from N. (P.) asiaticus: the color of the larval head capsule is light brown in N. (P.) shigaensis and dark brown in N. (P.) asiaticus and the larval capsule index of the former is significantly larger than that of the latter. Moreover, analyses based on DNA sequence of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) supported the hypothesis that N. (P.) shigaensis and N. (P.) asiaticus are two distinct species. This is the first record of a phoretic chironomid on a plecopteran nymph in the Palaearctic region.