Arcynopteryx polaris (Klapalek, 1912)

Judson, Sarah W. & Nelson, C. Riley, 2012, 3541, Zootaxa 3541, pp. 1-118 : 41

Arcynopteryx polaris (Klapalek, 1912)

SYNONYMY

Arcynopteryx dichroa polaris Klapálek, 1912

Arcynopteryx altaica Zapekina-Dulkeit, 1957

Arcynopteryx dichroa Illies, 1966

Arcynopteryx polaris Zhiltzova, 1995

TYPE LOCALITY: USSR: Bykow, Lena-mudung.

DIAGNOSIS: Males of A. polaris are often brachypterous ( Fig. 252), while females are macropterous. The male hemitergal lobes are slender and fingerlike ( Fig. 253). The lobes are straight and directed medially until the apices nearly touch above the epiproct. In contrast, the lobes of A. compacta are curved anteriorly ( Fig. 248) and those of A. sajanensis ( Fig. 258) are short and blunt. Female subgenital plate has a broad, shallow median notch and short lobes ( Fig. 254). The plate has rounded edges, can be circumscribed by a circle and is not sloped ( Fig. 249) or parallel sided ( Fig. 259) as in A. compacta and A. sajanensis respectively. Nymphs ( Fig. 255) are diagnosed by a darker overall appearance and less pronounced M-line on the clypeus, but is otherwise similar to A. compacta and Skwala pusilla ( Fig. 294).

DISTRIBUTION—Global: East Palearctic- Regional: AOB, IDB— Aimag: AR^, BO^, BU^, KhD^, KhG, TO, UV*, ZA.

DISCUSSION: This species was first documented in Mongolia by Zhiltzova (1975) who later revised the species group (Zhiltzova 1995). Many historical specimens that we examined were misidentifed as A. altaica , a previous synonym of A. polaris . Our scrutiny of the synonym of A. polaris aided the Plecoptera Species File (DeWalt, Neu-Becker & Steuber 2010) in accurately updating records concerning taxonomy of this group.