Abstract
Recent studies (YUKAWA, 1980; YUKAWA et al., 1981) on the life history, host plant range and parasite complex of the Japanese Asphondylia species indicated that the soybean pod gall midge, Asphondylia sp. might be identical with some of those inhabiting wild hosts other than Leguminosae. To detect the identical species, the distribution pattern of the gall midge was compared with that of the other Asphondylia species. The soybean pod gall midge exists only in Japan, being distributed in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu (NAITO, 1964). Since this species has never been found in Hokkaido, special attention was paid to the distribution pattern of the other species in this area. Among the 13 species investigated, A. baca on Ampelopsis, A. diervillae on Weigela, A. sp. on Aucuba and Diplosis morivorella on Morus (transferred to Asphondylia soon) were recognized to be distributed in Hokkaido as well as in other places. A. sp. on Alpinia was obtained only from the southern parts of Japan. The ligustrum fruit midge, A. sphaera was collected from various localities in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, except Hokkaido. The distribution data for the 7 remainder species were obtained only from certain restricted places in Honshu and Kyushu. Thus, the distribution pattern of A. sphaera best coincided with that of the soybean pod gall midge. In addition, the fruit and flower bud galls produced by A. sphaera were commonly found on Ligustrum japonicum growing as hedges or garden trees, particularly in south-western Japan where the soybean is often seriously attacked by the gall midge. These results indicate the close relationship between the two species, and require a host-exchanging experiment between the soybean and Ligustrum species.
