Lissoxiphyda mitai Shinohara, 2020

Lissoxiphyda mitai Shinohara, 2020

Specimens examined. KYUSHU: Fukuoka Pref.: 1$, Tagawa-gun, Soeda-cho, Mt. Hikosan , Hikosan Biological Laboratory, 670 m, 33.482°N 130.909°E, 22–23. VII. 2021, YPT, Junta Abe GoogleMaps . Miyazaki Pref.: 2 $, Misato-cho, Kashiba N. F., 723 m, 32°21′11.28″N 131°12′38.05″E, 23–25. VII. 2018, YPT, Kazushige Uemori GoogleMaps . Kagoshima Pref.: 8 $, Tarumizu-shi, Takakuma Experimental Forest , 694 m, 31°32′33.4″N 130°46′30.5″E, 28–30. VII. 2020, YPT, Kazushige Uemori; 1 $, Kimotsuki-cho, Kishira, 392 m, 31°14′34.0″N 130°58′26.0″E, 29–31. VII. 2020, YPT, Kazushige Uemori GoogleMaps .

Distribution ( Fig. 1 View Fig ). Japan (Miyakejima Island, Kyushu, Nakanoshima Island, Amamiôshima Island). Korea (Heuksando Island).

Remarks. This is a rare species, so far known from only eight females from five distant localities ( Shinohara et al., 2024b). Here we examined 12 additional females listed above from four localities in Kyushu ( Fig. 1 View Fig ). This species is of great interest for two reasons: its distribution and the puzzling behavior of the adults.

The known distribution of this species is peculiar ( Fig. 1 View Fig ), and as discussed by Shinohara (2020) and Shinohara et al. (2024b), it may only be explained by dispersal through rafting by sea currents of logs containing the larvae. This species is likely to occur also in Shikoku and the Kii Peninsula in southwestern Honshu. The 12 specimens here recorded were collected on mountains at altitudes of 392 to 723 meters in the northern, central and southern parts of Kyushu ( Fig. 1 View Fig ).

Shinohara (2020, 2022) and Shinohara and Yamagishi (2024) pointed out that while other xiphydriids are rarely caught in yellow pan traps, the two uncommon xiphydriids, Indoxiphia prima Smith, 2019 , and L. mitai , had been caught almost exclusively in these traps. The 12 females of L. mitai reported here were also trapped in yellow pans. For I. prima and L. mitai no males have been found and the life histories of these species are unknown. It is possible that the reason they can almost only be found in yellow pan traps is because they share still unknown unique biological or behavioral characteristics.