Polypedilum (Polypedilum) tsukubaense (Sasa)

Niitsuma, Hiromi, 2017, Review of the Japanese Microtendipes tera: Chironomidae: Chironominae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4320 (3), pp. 535-553 : 550

Polypedilum (Polypedilum) tsukubaense (Sasa)

Microtendipes tsukubaensis Sasa, 1979: 17 .

Polypedilum tsukubaense: Sasa 1983: 12 ; Sasa & Suzuki 1991: 94 (as Polypedilum s. str.). Microtendipes iriocedeus Sasa & Suzuki, 2000: 12 . Syn. nov.

Remarks. The holotype male of M. iriocedeus Sasa & Suzuki may be lost (A. Shinohara, pers. comm.). In the original description of M. iriocedeus , the authors (2000: 13) wrote, “Wing bare, without dark marks, R2+ 3 in contact with R1. Tip of fore tibia with a long, narrow and apically pointed terminal process”, and “Oral or anterior margin of 8th abdominal segment is inverted V-shaped like in Polypedilum species”. These are features of Polypedilum rather than Microtendipes . Further, they draw the foretibial scale in the somewhat lateral view (p. 31, fig. 12e), and noted that the superior volsella is somewhat sickle-shaped, apically hooked, and has 1 or 2 inner setae arising at about basal one-third, and one lateral seta, and the gonostylus is slender, widest at about middle. It shows that the species belongs Polypedilum s. str. and conspecific with P. (P.) tsukubaense (Sasa) .

The adults, male and female, are very similar to those of Polypedilum (Polypedilum) flavescens ( Johannsen, 1932) collected from Indonesia in the morphology or even conspecific, especially the structure of male hypopygium. Polypedilum (P.) tsukubaense almost satisfies the original description of P. flavescens , except that the foretibial scale is rounded apically. In P. (P.) flavescens , the scale is pointed apically, according to Johannsen (1932: 521).