The chironomid species collected on the Tokara Islands, Kagoshima (Diptera)

Abstract

Collections of chironomid midges were carried out by H. Suzuki on May 18 to 20,1994,on Kuchinoshima and Nakanoshima of the Tokara Islands, by sweeping bushes near their breeding places (mainly rice paddies and small streams) with insect net during daytime, and also by operating a light trap at night. As the results, a total of 266 males of the family Chironomidae were individually mounted on slides for identification, and they were classified into as many as 49 chironomid species, including 17 new species. Twenty four species among them were in common with those of the mainland of Japan, and 15 were in common with the Nansei Islands; 8 species among them were in common both with the mainland of Japan and the Nansei Islands, but 7 were estimated as being in common with the species indigenous to the Nansei Islands, which invaded the Tokara Islands by crossing the Watase Line. It was also noted that Chironomus yoshimatsui, a species most commonly found in the polluted sewage ditches in the mainland of Japan but not in those of the Nansei Islands, is distributed to Tokara.