Podolestes coomansi, M.A. Lieftinck, 1940

M. A. Lieftinck, 1940, Descriptions and records of South-East Asiatic Odonata (II), Treubia 17 (4), pp. 337-392 : 348-350

Podolestes coomansi , sp. n. ( fig. 4 c, 5 ).

Material studied: — 17 ♂, 17 ♀ (4 ♂, 6 ♀ juv.), S.E. Sumatra, Palembang Residency, Palembang , June 11-July 15, Aug. 1-18, Sept. 22-25, Nov. 2-27 and Dec. 11, 1937, L. Coomans de Ruiter leg. Holotype ♂ and allotype ♀, Palembang , Sept. 25, 1939 .

Male (ad.). — Labium bluish- or yellowish-white. Labrum, mandible-bases, anteclypeus and genae pale greenish- or bluish-white, this colour narrowly continued upwards against the margin of compound eyes; labrum shining, finely bordered with brown anteriorly. Postclypeus and frons dark bronzy-brown, lustreless; vertex and epicranium dull metallic-green. Torulus of antennae blackish-brown surrounded by a paler area which extends rearwards and a little inwards as an indistinct, slightly curved, rusty-brown stripe, ceasing on the outer side of each lateral ocellus. Antennae dark brown, pedicel pale brown, darkened apically. Occipital plate with two small pits, one on each side. Rear of the head black, pruinose.

Prothorax clear blue, anterior and posterior lobes dark brown, propleurae pale vinaceous-fawn (Ridgway), slightly pruinose.

Synthorax dull bronzy-black with slight greenish reflections above. Dorsal pale markings sharply defined, and of a delicate calamine-blue. Ante-alar triangles filled in with blue. The sides, beyond the humeral suture, are less vividly coloured, usually burn blue or light glaucous blue with two parallel, oblique, tawny bands which at times are very indistinct ( fig. 4 c). Metepimeron and under surfaces pale glaucous blue, thinly pruinose in aged individuals.

M. A. Lieftinck: Descriptions and records of S.E. Asiatic Odonata . 349

Legs vinaceous-buff, the tibiae usually rather more pale olive-buff; spines, and apices of all femora, dark brown.

Wings very different in shape from those of orientalis , chrysopus and buwaldai , more abruptly expanded beyond the petiole, decidedly broader and with the apices broadly and rather abruptly rounded 1). Distance between base of wing and Ax1 only little longer than the space between Axl and Ax2 (about 1 1/3 in fore wing, less than 11/2 in hinder wing). Quadrilateral much longer than in orientalis ; costal side in fore wing twice as long, and in hind wing almost three times as long as distal side. Two postquadrangular antenodal cells in all wings. Pterostigma light to dark brown, distinctly shorter than in orientalis . Nodal index15-18/14-18.

Abdomen short, shaped and coloured much as in orientalis . Segm. 1 pale brown, sides bluish-white; 2 with the dorso-basal calamine-blue mark slightly less deeply indented posteriorly, sides pale blue. Remaining segments similar to orientalis . Segm. 7 - 1 0 less obscured than in that species and with traces of blue mid-dorsal spots at extreme base only. Tenth segment roof-shaped, dark brown above; sides of 9 and 10 indistinctly marked with pale blue.

Sup. anal apps. dark reddish brown, apical third black. Basal third of inferior pair yellow, the remainder shining black. Superior pair shorter than the inferiors, of simple structure; apices truncated. Inferior pair broad and contiguous basally, thence narrowed and somewhat outbent on middle, finally again widened and provided interiorly with a stout tooth-like projection that meets its fellow of the opposite side so as to embrace an oval notch; apices strongly divergent, bluntly pointed; seen from the side the appendage thickens to a knob whose upper surface is hollowed out in part and bears a small corrugated area, which, in aged individuals, is densely covered with a whitish, granular, pruinescence ( fig. 5 ).

Female (ad.). — Closely similar to the male in colour and markings, but abdomen more robustly built.

The dorsum of the synthorax is raw umber instead of bronzy-black, a narrow stripe over the median carina being Sanford’s brown in colour. Mesepimeral blue patches (antehumeral spots), very slightly larger than in the male, only little longer than broad.

1) Neither Munz’s nor Ris’s figures of the wings of the suposed ♂ and ♀ of P orientalis agree exactly with those o f true examples of this species from Borneo, Billiton and South Sumatra, described by me in a previous paper (loc. cit., antea). In our series both pairs o f wings are narrower and decidedly more pointed apically than it would appear from these illustrations. On the other hand, the apices o f the wings of P. coomansi are still more rounded off than in the two specimens o f orientalis examined by Munz and Ris, so that there may exist yet another Malaysian species of Podolestes , intermediate in this respect between orientalis and coomansi . (See Munz, Mem. Amer. Ent. Soc. 3, Philad. 1919, pl. 10 fig. 60; and Ris, Zool. Meded. Leiden, 10, 1927, p. 15- 16, fig. 7 ).

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350 Treubia Deel 17, 1940, Afl. 4.

Wings hyaline or slightly enfumed with obscured border beyond pt in old specimens; similar in shape to the male or even a little broader. Neuration as in the opposite sex. Nodal index13-16/14-16.

Abdomen coloured similarly to the male. Apical segments dark brown, almost black in old specimens, with bronzy-green or -blue reflections. Blue basal spot of segm. 2 only shallowly indented posteriorly, those on 3 - 7 slightly enlarged and all blue mid-dorsally. Segm. 8 with narrow, complete, blue basal annule, the blue colour extending finely along the mid-dorsal carina as far as the middle of the segment; 9 with the blue basal annule still narrower, incomplete laterally, but with the median off-shoot stouter, extending almost to end of segment.

Anal appendages almost as long as segm. 10, rather swollen, but tips acutely pointed. Valves brown, of simple structure, not surpassing end of segm. 10. Length: ♂ abd. + app. 29-31.5, hw. 22 -24; ♀ 27.5-29; 23.8-25 mm.

This fine new species is chiefly remarkable for its colouring and for the peculiar, broadly rounded wings. The ♂ is easily distinguished from P. orientalis Selys, by the different shape of its anal appendages, whilst the 9 resembles the ♂ in that the antehumeral blue bands on the dorsum of the mesothorax are in the form of isolated, oval (or wedge-shaped) patches, whereas in the ♀ of orientalis they are band-like, widest ventrally and bluntly pointed above, occupying the lower two-thirds of the mesepisternite ( fig. 4d).

Named in honour of Mr. L. Coomans de Ruiter, of Manado (Celebes), in recognition of his continuous help and activity.

Figures

Fig. 4. Colour-pattern of synthorax of Podolestes chrysopus Selys ♂ (W. Borneo, a); P. buwaldai, sp. n. ♂ (E. Sumatra, b); P. coomansi, sp. n. ♂ (E. Sumatra, c); P. orientalis Selys ♀ (E. Borneo, d).

Fig. 5. Podolestes coomansi, sp. n. ♂. Anal appendages, dorsal view and right side.

Fig. 7. Coeliccia arcuata, sp. n. ♂. Anal ap ­ pendages, dorsal view and right side .