Notogomphus intermedius Dijkstra

Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B., Kipping, Jens & Mézière, Nicolas, 2015, Sixty new dragonfly and damselfly species from Africa (Odonata), Odonatologica 44 (4), pp. 447-678 : 574-577

Notogomphus intermedius Dijkstra sp. nov. – Katanga Longleg (Type Photo 34, Photos 47, 64, Figs 19, 20)

Taxonomy

Fraser (1955) illustrated a female from Upemba National Park in Katanga as N. lujai , but identified (in lit.) a similar but teneral male from nearby Kalule (near Lubudi on the southern edge of the park) as N. meruensis ( Sjöstedt, 1909) . SjÖstedt (1909) described the latter from a teneral and damaged male from Mt Meru, while describing N. kilimandjaricus ( Sjöstedt, 1909) from a mature female from neighbouring Mt Kilimanjaro. The N.meruensis holotype is accompanied in NHRS by a teneral female labelled »Cotypus«, collected at the same site two days earlier. This female and the N. kilimandjaricus holotype agree in head armature and markings. The N.meruensis holotype’s markings are largely indiscernible, but similar on face, mesepisternum and S 9–10. The appendages are lost, with the exception of the base of the cerci and their ventral teeth, whose shape agrees with males identified as N. kilimandjaricus from northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, as does its secondary genitalia. Sjöstedt’s two species thus appear identical and the obscurity of N. meruensis warrants selection of N.kilimandjaricus as the taxon’s valid name [new synonymy]. The facial patterns of both Fraser’s Katanga specimens agree and are unlike that of any other Notogomphus species. Recent material of both sexes matched this pair and confirmed that they represent a morphologically and genetically distinct species, which Dijkstra & Clausnitzer (2014) have already treated as such.

Material studied

Holotype ♂. RMNH.INS.505650 : Congo-Kinshasa, Katanga , Kundelungu National Park, Masansa , small river with some gallery forest and falls in miombo woodland, 1440 –1480 m a.s.l. (10.532 ° S 27.978 ° E), 22 -xi- 2011, leg. K.-D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH .

Further material. CONGO-KINSHASA ( Katanga ): 1 ♂, as holotype, RMNH . 1 ♂ ( RMNH.INS.505521 ), Upemba National Park, Lusinga valley 3 km E of park headquarters , stream with patches of gallery and swamp forest, open swamp and arable fields, 1570 – 1590 m a.s.l. (8.93 ° S 27.23 ° E), 13 -xi- 2011, leg. K.-D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . 1 ♀ ( RMNH.INS.505581 ), Upemba National Park, broken bridge on Lusinga , river with gallery forest in miombo woodland, 1475 m a.s.l. (8.8998 ° S 27.2827 ° E), 16 -xi- 2011, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . 1 ♂, Kalule , 820–840 m a.s.l., i- 1934, leg. Ch. Seydel, MRAC . 1 ♀, Upemba National Park, Mubale River , 01– 20 -v- 1947, leg. G.F. de Witte, MRAC .

Genetics

Two unique haplotypes (n = 3) well-separated from other Notogomphus species including N. zernyi (St. Quentin, 1942), but most of the numerous paler species were not sampled.

Male morphological diagnosis

Recalls N. zernyi and other pale Notogomphus by (a) small size, Hw 28.5– 29.5 mm (n = 4); and (b) the largely pale yellow face, thorax sides, Pt, hind Type Photo 34. Holotype of Notogomphus intermedius sp. nov., RMNH.

femora and complete dorsal and lateral stripes on S 1–7. However, (1) while labrum and postclypeus are largely pale, the lower borders of antefrons, anteclypeus and labrum are darkened, a distinctive pattern within the genus ( Fig. 20); (2) the tibiae are all black, without yellow streaks; (3) the costa is dark, rather than yellow; (4) the dorsum of S 8–10 is black without a pale yellow stripe and the sides of S 8–9 are dark yellow; and (5) the cerci are rather simple in shape with ventral teeth directed outwards and visible in dorsal view ( Fig. 19).

Etymology

Intermediate in characters between the pale highland and dark forest species, but not particularly distinctive in other features (masculine adjective).

Range and ecology

Small rivers in miombo woodland flowing off the Kibara, Manika and Kundelungu plateaus in Katanga ( Photo 64), roughly between 800 and 1 600 m a.s.l ( Map 8).