Circular or oval? Molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed variations in middorsal spots on middle segments of Chloeia flava (Pallas, 1766)

Chloeia flava (Pallas, 1766) is characterized by having circular middorsal spots on middle segments, and researchers have questioned whether circular- and oval-shaped middorsal spots on middle segments are intraspecific morphological variations of C. flava. Molecular evidences were not included in previous studies to resolve this problem. In this study, we conducted both morphological and molecular genetic analyses based on specimens of C. flava collected from Fujian, China. We have noted that the Chloeia specimens after fixation had a wide variation in middorsal spots on their middle segments from circular to narrow oval, and phylogenetic analyses had clarified that all these specimens checked in this study were clustered in the single clade of Chloeia flava.