Neoperla grafei, Stark & Sheldon, 2009

Stark, Bill P. & Sheldon, Andrew L., 2009, Records Of Neoperlini (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From Brunei Darussalam And Sarawak, With Descriptions Of New Phanoperla Banks And Neoperla Needham Species, Illiesia 5 (2), pp. 11-19 : 12

Neoperla grafei sp. n.

( Figs. 1‐5 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ and 2 ♂ paratypes from Malaysia, Sarawak, Lanjak Entiman , 1.39 ° N, 112.16 ° E, 23 June 2008, U. Grafe (holotype USNM, paratypes BPS).

Adult habitus. General color pale yellow brown. Head pale except for obscure slightly darker region on frons and over ocelli ( Fig. 1 ). Pronotum pale brown with scattered darker rugosities. Femora pale brown, tibiae similar but with dark brown band at knee. Wing membrane pale amber, veins brown.

Male. Forewing length 9.5 mm. Process of tergum 7 subtriangular with projecting sensilla basiconica around apex and on lateral margins ( Fig. 2 ). Median sclerite of tergum 8 slightly rounded from lateral aspect and armed with a median row, and a few scattered sensilla basiconica. Tergum 9 with a pair of low humps armed with a sparse patch of ca. 7‐8 sensilla basiconica; area between humps partially sclerotized and bearing a few smaller sensilla basiconica. Hemiterga typical, anterior finger lobes slender, straight and strongly narrowed at apex. Aedeagal tube slender and sclerotized except for a partial, near apical, membranous zone armed with strong apically directed spines ( Figs. 3‐5 ); apex of tube gradually curved ventrad. Aedeagal sac about as long as tube and armed along most of dorsal margin with scattered strong spines; apex of sac with a patch of smaller, densely packed spines and ventral margin with a linear cluster of subapical spines.

Female. Unknown.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The patronym honors Professor Ulmar Grafe, collector of the type series, for his gracious assistance in this study.

Diagnosis. Neoperla grafei is a member of the N. parva species group recognized by Zwick (1986a). It differs from other Bornean members of the complex ( N. edmundsi Stark , N. parva Banks , N. starki Zwick ) in details of aedeagal armature and tube shape. The new species is the only known member of the group with a strongly curved apex to the aedeagus, and it is also the only one to have the membranous spiny area of the tube set near the apex and extending as a partial ring across the dorsum; other species in the group have the spiny area distinctly separated into a pair of lateral patches located near midlength of the tube. This complex might be endemic to Borneo but Zwick (1986a) suggests N. triangulata Kawai , a Sri Lankan species, is a possible member of the group.

The holotype and paratypes of this species were collected with two males each of N. parva and N. rougemonti , and several females which do not appear to be any of these species.

Figures

Figs. 1‐5. Neoperla grafei. 1. Head and pronotum, 2. Male terminalia, 3. Aedeagus, lateral aspect, 4. Aedeagus, dorsal aspect, internal sac armature not shown, 5. Aedeagal tube apex and everted sac, lateral aspect.