Simulium (Gomphostilbia) asakoae Takaoka & Davies, 1995

Takaoka, Hiroyuki, Ya’Cob, Zubaidah & Sofian-Azirun, Mohd, 2018, Classification, annotated list and keys for the black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of Peninsular Malaysia, Zootaxa 4498 (1), pp. 1-65 : 11

2. Simulium (Gomphostilbia) asakoae Takaoka & Davies, 1995

Simulium (Gomphostilbia) asakoae Takaoka & Davies, 1995: 55 –60 (Female, male, pupa and larva); Takaoka et al., 2017a: 15–23 (Female, male, pupa and larva).

This species is characterized in the male by the bright vermilion upper-eye large facets, and in the pupa by abdominal segments 1 and 2 each darkened and tuberculate on the dorsal surface.

The pupae and larvae of this species mainly breed in small streams at medium to high elevations (500–1,813 m) in Cameron Highlands (Ya’cob et al., 2016b).

It was recorded from Thailand (Takaoka and Saito, 1999), Hong Kong (Takaoka et al., 1995), Myanmar ( Takaoka et al., 2017c) and Vietnam ( Takaoka et al., 2014c).

This species was reported to be a vector of unknown filarial species in Thailand ( Fukuda et al., 2003; Ishii et al., 2008). However, a reconfirmation of the vector species is needed because there are several member species of the S. asakoae species-group, of which females are morphologically similar to one another ( Takaoka et al., 2013a).