Gripopteryx brasiliensis ( Šámal, 1921 ), Samal, 1921

Lecci, Lucas Silveira & Froehlich, Claudio Gilberto, 2011, Taxonomic revision of Gripopteryx (Pictet, 1841) (Plecoptera: Gripopterygidae), Zootaxa 2792, pp. 1-21 : 5

Gripopteryx brasiliensis ( Šámal, 1921)

( Fig. 3–4 )

Gripoptera brasiliensis Šámal, 1921 , p. 110.

Gripopteryx brasiliensis — Jewett, 1959, p. 149. Gripoptera as a synonym of Gripopteryx . Gripopteryx cancellata — Jewett, 1960 p. 168. G. brasiliensis as a synonym of G. cancellata . Gripopteryx brasiliensis — Froehlich, 1969, p. 18. G. brasiliensis a valid species. Gripopteryx brasiliensis — Froehlich, 2010, p 131.

Material examined (new records). BRAZIL, Santa Catarina, Urubici, Morro da Igreja (28°07’23”S / 49°28’48”W, 1350m a.s.l.): 1 male, 3 females, 09.i.2010, light trap, Mendes, H.F., Pinho, L.C. & Moretto, R.A.; 1 female, same data except for: (28°07'25''S / 49°28'49''W, 1800m a.s.l.): 1 female, 17.iii–25.vii.2005, Malaise trap, Pinho, L.C. & Bizzo, L.E.M.

Diagnostic characters. General color dark brown, homogeneous. Male paraprocts broad, apex rounded, curved backwards. Male epiproct absent. Female subgenital plate bilobed; tergum 10 with a large approximately pentagonal spot. Cerci long, but shorter than abdomen.

Male. General coloration dark brown. Head: frons brown to black, parietalia brown; epicranial line dark brown, scape and pedicel of antennae brown and flagellum dark brown ( Fig. 3 a). Thorax: pronotum dark brown, with brown rugosity; wings dark brown, a little darker at veins; legs dark-brown, mid-portion of femora yellowish. Abdominal segments sclerotized. Sternum 9 forms a broad, parabolic subgenital plate ( Fig. 3 d). Posterior tergum 10 triangular, apex curved ventrally ( Figs. 3 b and 3d). Paraprocts broad, apex rounded and curved backwards ( Fig. 3 c). Epiproct absent. Width of head, 1.86 mm; length of forewing, 15.3 mm; number of cercomeres 27.

Female. Abdomen: terga 1–5 and sterna 1–7 membranous; segments 8–10 sclerotized; sternum 8 forms a wide and bilobed subgenital plate ( Figs. 4 b and 4c), cerci dark brown. Width of head, 2.2 mm; length of forewing 22 mm; number of cercomeres, 30.

Remarks. The species was described by Šámal (1921) based on a female collected in Blumenau (SC). Jewett (1960) and Illies (1966) considered G. brasiliensis a synonym of G. cancellata . However, Froehlich (1969) resurrected G. brasiliensis as a valid species, based on body size ( G. brasiliensis is much longer than G. cancellata ) and wing coloration (in G. brasiliensis veins are darker than cells while in G. cancellata they are of the same color). The female of G. brasiliensis differs from that of G. cancellata by the bilobed subgenital plate ( Fig. 4 c and 4c) and by the absence of any traces of nymphal tergal spines, present in G. cancellata ; the subgenital plate of the latter may be shallowly notched but is not bilobed.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Gripopteryx brasiliensis, male: a, head and pronotum, dorsal view; b, terminalia in dorsal view; c, terminalia in lateral view; d, terminalia in ventral view.

FIGURE 4. Gripopteryx brasiliensis, female: a, terminalia in dorsal view; b, terminalia in ventral view; c, terminalia in ventrolateral view.