Berothella weiweii, Liu & Li, 2021

Liu, Xingyue & Li, Di, 2021, Discovery of the pleasing lacewing subfamily Berothellinae (Neuroptera: Dilaridae) from Borneo, with description of a new species of Berothella Banks, Zootaxa 5005 (3), pp. 388-394 : 389-391

Berothella weiweii sp. nov.

( Figs 1–8 )

Diagnosis. Body largely blackish brown. Forewing with six series of brown, transversely band-like markings from wing base to apex; hindwing entirely greyish brown, immaculate. Hemitergite of male tergum 9 with two short spines, laterally bordered with a subquadrate lobe, which posteriorly bears an articulated, small, claw-like projection; male gonocoxites 10 present as a pair of slenderly elongate sclerites, with apices recurved anteriad, and with bases distantly apart from lateral ends of gonocoxites 11; supraanale anteromedially produced into a narrow bar, posteriorly not incised.

Description. Male (dried specimen). Body length 3.9 mm; forewing length 5.0 mm, hindwing length 4.1 mm.

Head yellowish brown, with three yellowish brown setose tubercles, all of which are similar in size. Compound eyes black. Antennae thickly filiform, flagella with distal parts lost, preserved parts with 18 (right) or 24 (left) flagellomeres; blackish brown throughout. Mouthparts yellowish brown.

Pronotum blackish brown, with two pairs of setose yellowish brown tubercles on anterior and lateral margins; meso- and metathorax blackish brown. Legs yellow. Forewing ovoid, densely setose; two nygmata present, at base (between RP+MA and MP) and middle (between RP and MA); in general, with six series of brown, transversely band-like markings from wing base to apex; basalmost band short and straight, basal second and third bands arched and much wider than remaining distal bands, distal bands mostly interrupted medially and forked marginally; wing apex transparent, with brown stripes along branches of RP and MA. Hindwing entirely greyish brown, immaculate; one nygma present at middle (between RP and MA). Veins brown. Forewing venation: RP with five main branches on left wing but four on right wing, each branch with secondary branch and/or marginal fork; MA separating from RP, initially branched slightly proximad midpoint, with three main branches, each branch bifurcated distad; MP proximally separated into two main branches, MP1 bifurcated, MP2 trifurcated, most branches of MP1 and MP2 secondarily forked distad; CuA initially branched slightly distad midpoint, with two branches, each branch bifurcated or trifurcated; CuP distally with three short pectinate branches; A1 distally trifurcated; A2 with five short pectinate branches; a distal scp-ra crossvein present posteriad pterostigmal area; three ra-rp crossveins present. Hindwing venation: RP with five main branches on left wing but four on right wing, most of them with secondary branch and/or marginal fork; MA with stem invisible, initially branched at proximal 1/3, with two or three main branches, some of them bifurcated distad; MP with two branches, MP1 bifurcated, MP2 with three pectinate branches, most branches of MP1 and MP2 secondarily forked distad; CuA with four branches running to wing margin; CuP simple; A1 bifurcated; A2 with three short pectinate branches; scp-ra crossvein absent; three ra-rp crossveins present.

Abdomen blackish brown throughout. Tergum 9 in dorsal view with a deep, narrow posterior incision, leaving a pair of broad hemitergites; each hemitergite separated into three parts (i.e., anterodorsal part, posterodorsal part, and ventral part), indicated by a Y-shaped apodeme; posterodorsal part (putative remnant of ectoproct) distinctly produced posteriad, posteriorly with two short spines; ventral part subquadrate in lateral view, posteriorly with an articulated, claw-like projection (putative gonostylus 9). Sternum 9 reduced into membrane. Gonocoxites 9 present as a pair of very narrow sclerites lateral to gonocoxites 10. Gonocoxites 10 present as a pair of slenderly elongate sclerites, slightly curved; posterior apex recurved anteriad, hook-like in lateral view. Fused gonocoxites 11 (= gonarcus) straightly beam-shaped, lateral ends widely apart from bases of gonocoxites 10. Supraanale shield-like, glabrous, subtriangular, anteromedially with a narrow bar, obtuse at tip. Hypandrium internum subtrapezoidal in ventral view, with a pair of posteriorly convergent ridges.

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype ♂, Malaysia, Sabah, Jungle Girl Camp, V.2018, ZHANG Weiwei ( CAU).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to the collector of its holotype, Mr. Weiwei Zhang, who kindly helped us collect specimens of Neuropterida for many years.

Distribution. Malaysia (Sabah).

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Berothella weiweii sp. nov. holotype male. 1. habitus photo, dorsal view; 2. photo of head, dorsal view; 3. nygmata, dorsal view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm (Fig. 2); 1.0 mm (Figs 1, 3).

FIGURE 4. Berothella weiweii sp. nov. holotype male. Living male (photograph by Weiwei Zhang), lateral view. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 5. Berothella weiweii sp. nov. holotype male, forewing. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 6–8. Berothella weiweii sp. nov. 6. male genitalia, dorsal view; 7. male genitalia, ventral view; 8. male genitalia, lateral view. Abbreviations: e: ectoproct; T9: tergum 9; hi: hypandrium internum; sa: supraanale. Gonocoxites 9, gonostylus 9, gonocoxites 10 and gonocoxites 11 are respectively highlighted in pale blue, blue, pale red and pale green in panels 6–8. Scale bar: 0.25 mm.