Sinopanorpa Cai & Hua, 2008

Cai, Li-Jun, Huang, Peng-Ying & Hua, Bao-Zhen, 2008, Sinopanorpa, a new genus of Panorpidae (Mecoptera) from the Oriental China with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 1941 (1), pp. 43-54 : 44-45

Sinopanorpa Cai & Hua , gen. nov.

Type species: Panorpa tincta Navas, 1931 .

Etymology: The generic name is derived from the Latin, Sino -(Chinese) and Panorpa (scorpionfly), referring to the new genus related to Panorpa and endemic to China.

Diagnosis: This new genus can be readily distinguished from Panorpa Linnaeus by the following combination of characters: wing membrane deeply yellow with sooty brown markings; R 2 in wings generally 3- branched; tergum VI of male without anal horn; abdominal segment VII of male much thinner and cylindrical at its basal 1/3, but abruptly thicker dorsad and also cylindrical at its distal 2/3, making the distal part 3 times the basal part in diameter, and forming a rectangular shape between the dorsum of basal part and the anterior face of the distal part; gonostylus in male genitalia very long and slender with a very developed basal lobe, the prominent lobe strongly sclerotized and with two hooks apically; ventral parameres simple, not branched.

Description: Large-sized, forewings about 16–18 mm long, body usually tawny brown to reddish brown. Rostrum long and slender; 3 ocelli; ocellar triangle black, vertex with a broad blackish transverse band through ocelli between eyes. Pronotum with 12 setae along its anterior margin. A pair of claws serrated with 5–6 teeth. Wings deeply yellow, a black seta at the base of R, R 2 generally 3-branched, 1A joins to the posterior margin of wing far beyond origin of Rs ( Fig. 2 ). Abdomen in both sexes not longer than the wings. Abdominal segments VI–VIII of male elongated; segment VI without anal horn; segment VII peculiar in shape, its basal 1/3 much thinner and cylindrical, but its distal 2/3 abruptly thicker and also cylindrical, making the distal part 3 times as thick as the basal part in diameter, and forming a rectangular shape between the dorsum of basal part and the anterior face of the distal part ( Fig. 1B ). Male genital bulb long elliptic; gonostylus very long and curved, with peculiar highly sclerotized basal lobe and triangular mesal process; hypovalves long and broad; ventral parameres developed, extending at least beyond the base of gonostylus; ventral parameres quite long, at least reaching the base of gonostylus, not branched.

Remarks: In Panorpa , very few species also have 3-branched R 2 in wings, such as Panorpa hybrida MacLachlan 1882 from Europe, P. lewisi MacLachlan 1887 and P. japonica Thunberg 1784 from Japan, but these species are quite different from the new genus in wing patterns and genital bulb. Based on the shape of the abdominal segments VII-VIII in male, the Panorpa diceras group in western China are also elongated and constricted at basal part ( Cheng, 1957), but they are distinctive for the two anal horns on the posterior margin of abdominal segment VI, and the ventral parameres 3-branched rather than simple.

Distribution: China (Shaanxi, Gansu, and Hubei Provinces), all in the Oriental Region.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Sinopanorpa tincta (Navas). A–E. Male: A. Male adult, dorsal view; B. Abdomen of male with genital bulb, lateral view; C. Genital bulb, dorsal view; D. Genital bulb with hypovalves, ventral view; E. Genital bulb with hypovalves removed, ventral view. F–I. Female: F. Female adult, dorsal view; G. Subgenital plate, ventral view; H. Internal skeleton, ventral view; I. same, dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. Adults of Sinopanorpa digitiformis sp. nov. A. Male; B. Female.