Thraulodes itatiajanus Traver & Edmunds, 1967

Raymundo, Thayna Da Silva, Almeida, Taís Barbosa, Do Nascimento, Jeane M. C. & Salles, Frederico Falcão, 2021, Thraulodes Ulmer 1920 (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae) from Espírito Santo state, Brazil, Zootaxa 5076 (1), pp. 7-20 : 8-12

Thraulodes itatiajanus Traver & Edmunds, 1967

( Figs. 1–10 and 24–25 )

Diagnosis. Male imago (adapted from Domínguez et al. 2006): 1) forewing with 3–4 cross veins basal to bulla; 2) costal and subcostal area of forewing tinted yellowish; 3) all legs with reddish brown apical band on femur; 4) abdominal color pattern of terga II–VI yellowish translucent, terga VII–X pink; large submedian mark near anterior margin of terga III and IV, reduced to one line in tergum II and replaced by a series of dark dots on terga V–VI; terga II–VII with stigmatic dots and darker mark near on terga III–VII; 5) sterna I–VIII with a pair of ventral dots, sterna II–VIII with a curved row of two small dark dots that almost meet medially ( Fig. 9 ); 6) penes very slender and recurved fold present only on the basal half ( Fig. 10 ). Female imago: 1) forewings with 4–7 cross veins basal and 1 –20 distal to bulla ( Fig. 4a ); 2) all legs with reddish brown apical band on femora and tibiae with dark brown mark in the apical region ( Fig. 3 ); 3) terga I–X reddish brown and light brown, terga I–VI with white transverse band close to the posterior margin, reduced to a line in terga VII–VIII, posterior margin of terga II–IX dark brown ( Figs. 1–2 ); 4) general color of the sterna yellowish; translucent after oviposition, sterna I–VII with a pair of ventral dots, sterna II–VII with a curved row of two small dark dots that almost meet medially ( Figs. 5–6 ). Nymph (adapted from Da-Silva 2003): 1) abdominal color pattern of terga dark brown on anterior margins and light brown on posterior margins, terga IX and X with dark brown mark medially close to the posterior margin; 2) general color of the sterna light brown, sterna I–VII with a pair of ventral dots, sterna II–VII with a curved row of two small dark dots that almost meet medially ( Figs. 7 –); 3) all legs with median and apical brown marks on femur; 3) abdominal gills grayish, broad and tapering toward the apex, main trachea strongly pigmented and unbranched.

Description.

Female imago ( Figs. 1–6 ): LENGTHS (mm). Body: 10.0–11.0; Forewings: 13.2–13.3; Hind wings: 1.9; Fore leg: 5.7; Mid leg: 5.1; Hind leg: 6.9; Caudal filaments broken and lost.

General color reddish brown. Wings translucent. Head. Reddish brown, with dark brown and light brown areas. Antenna with scape and flagellum light brown, pedicellus dark brown. Ocelli yellow, surrounded by black ring; region between ocelli reddish brown. Compound eye dark brown ( Figs. 1–2 ). Thorax. Pronotum whitish with anterior and posterior margins dark brown; stained with reddish brown medially and submedially; meso- and metanotum brown, with light to dark brown marks. Posterior area of mesonotum white, with apex dark brown ( Figs. 1–2 ). Pro-, meso- and metasternum white with central mark black. Mesosternum with light brown sublateral band. Pleura with membranous areas whitish; sclerotized areas reddish brown and dark brown. Legs ( Fig. 3 ): All legs light yellow. Fore femur with apical reddish brown band extending to distal half, basal margin of band dark brown, ventral surface with submedian dark brown mark; tibia with apical, thin, dark brown mark; tarsi light yellow, except for distal half of last tarsal segment and claw dark brown. Mid and hind legs similar to foreleg, except by absence of submedian dark brown mark on femur and by reddish brown band on apical third. Wings: Membrane of wings hyaline with dark brown stain at base; veins brown. Forewing with 4–7 cross vein basal and 1 –20 distal to bulla ( Fig. 4a ). Hind wing with 13–15 cross veins ( Fig. 4b ).

Abdomen ( Figs. 1–2 ). Terga I–X reddish brown and light brown. Terga I–VIII with white transverse band close to posterior margin, reduced to line on terga VII–VIII; posterior margin of terga II–IX dark brown. Pleura yellowish, with small dark brown stigmatic dots and longitudinal whitish band above pleural fold on II–IX. Sterna yellowish ( Fig. 5 ), translucent after oviposition ( Fig. 6 ); sterna I–VII with pair of ventral dots, sterna II–VII with curved row of two small dark dots nearly meeting medially ( Figs. 5–6 ). Apex of female sternum IX cleft, V-shaped, varying from deep ( Fig. 5 ) to shallow ( Fig. 6 ).

Variations. One specimen showed color patterns lighter due to the alcohol fixation period.

Life cycle associations. The association with the female described is based on one female nymph reared to subimago and then to imago. Furthermore, the female nymph and imago has dots, especially on sterna similar to the description of the male adult and nymph ( Figs. 5–9 ).

Biology. T. itatiajanus have been found at sites between 300–2000 meters above sea level ( Da-Silva 2003; Salles et al. 2010 and present study) and the nymphs analyzed in the present study were found on stone and gravel substrates.

Distribution. Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. New records for Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais ( Fig. 23 ).

Material examined. Brazil, Espírito Santo, Ibitirama, Caparaó National Park, Rio Pedra Roxa , 20º 23’ 4.1” S / 41º 44’ 08.1” W, 1063 m, 20.iv.2008, Ceunes leg., 5 ♀ imagos and 3 nymphs ; Minas Gerais, Alto Caparaó, Caparaó National Park, Rio São Domingos (EVA), 20º 28’ 19.5” S / 41º 49’ 41.7” W, 1972 m, 28.iii.2018, lençol, 2 ♀ imagos ; Espera Feliz, Caparaó National Park , Pedra Menina (Base), 20º 37’ 30.3” S / 41º 49’ 27.1” W, 4 m, 14-15.ii.2016, uv light pan trap, 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ imagos .

Discussion. Many species of the genus have description of the female imago (e.g., T. alapictus Mariano & Lima in Lima et al. 2013; T. amanda Mariano & Froehlich in Mariano et al. 2011; T. bonito Gonçalves, Da-Silva & Nessimian in Gonçalves et al. 2013; and T. pinga Souto, Da-Silva & Nessimian in Souto et al. 2014). The female of T. itatiajanus is similar to the female of T. alapictus due to the general color pattern, large body length and marks on the legs, mainly on the tibiae with an apical mark and tarsi with the last tarsal segment and claw tinged with dark marks. However, the female of T. itatiajanus is easily distinguished from T. alapictus by the following characteristics: T. alapictus has abdomen color dark brown without translucent segments, sterna without marks and legs color pattern without band; while T. itatiajanus has translucent segments (after oviposition), sterna II–VI with a curved row of two small dark dots that almost meet medially, and femur of all legs with an apical band.

Figures

FIGURE 23. Map of South America, with the eastern portion of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo in detail showing the distribution of the genus Thraulodes analyzed in this study. Thraulodes itatiajanus (yellow dot); Thraulodes luisae (purple dot); and Thraulodes alegre sp. nov. (red dot).

FIGURES 1–3. Thraulodes itatiajanus, female imago: 1) habitus, lateral view; 2) habitus, dorsal view; 3) legs (a- foreleg; bmid leg; c- hind leg).

FIGURE 4–6. Thraulodes itatiajanus, female imago: 4) wings (a- fore; b- hind); 5 and 6) abdomen before and after oviposition in ventral view showing details of the sterna (arrow).

FIGURE 7–10. Thraulodes itatiajanus, abdomen, ventral view: 7) female nymph;) male nymph; 9) male imago; 10) partial region of the genitalia with penes in detail.

FIGURES 24–27. Living specimens of Thraulodes: 24) Thraulodes itatiajanus, female imago; 25) Thraulodes itatiajanus, male nymph; 26 and 27) Thraulodes luisae, male imago. All photographs are by FFS.