Anacroneuria guanacaste, Stark, 2014

Stark, Bill P., 2014, Records Of Mesoamerican Anacroneuria (Plecoptera: Perlidae), With Descriptions Of Four New Species, Illiesia 10 (2), pp. 6-16 : 8-10

Anacroneuria guanacaste sp. n.

( Figs. 1-5 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂, Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province, Estación Biológica Maritza, Rio Tempisquito , 17 March 1989, light trap ( USNM).

Adult habitus. General color brown, patterned with pale brown. Head dark brown pigment extending from behind ocelli in a broad patch covering central frons; lappets and antennae dark brown, pale callosities lateral to ocelli distinct ( Fig. 1 ). Median pronotal band yellow, most of disc brown. Wing membrane pale amber, veins brown. Hind femora with pale proximal band covering basal 2/3, apical third dark brown. Tibiae banded, pale in median field, dark brown at both ends.

Male. Forewing length 12 mm. Hammer thimble shaped, height slightly greater than apical diameter ( Fig. 2 ). Aedeagal apex simple, notched on apical margin; ventral membranous lobes conspicuous ( Fig. 3 ). In lateral aspect, apex is somewhat foot-shaped, but with a slightly bulging process at ankle ( Fig. 4 ). Dorsal keel consists of an obscure series of low chevron-like lines ( Fig. 5 ), but median line absent. Hooks slender.

Female. Unknown.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name, based on Guanacaste Province, is used as a noun in apposition.

Diagnosis. In the Stark (1998) key this species runs to couplet 18 where an impasse occurs due to the intermediate forewing length. If the impasse is resolved by choosing the greater length (13 mm), no resolution is gained, although a determination of A. marca or A. ventana Stark, 1998 can be forced; if the smaller length (10 mm) is chosen a determination of A. varilla Stark, 1998 is made. In some respects, A. guanacaste is intermediate between these species with a slender, thimble-shaped hammer like that of A. marca , and with an aedeagal apex more similar to that of A. varilla . The new species is distinguished from both by the apical notch in the aedeagal tip ( Fig. 3 ), and by the chevron- like dorsal keel ( Fig. 5 ). The species is probably a near relative of A. flavominuta Jewet, 1958 and other Mexican species ( Stark & Kondratieff 2004.

Figures

Figs. 1-5. Anacroneuria guanacaste sp.n. male. 1. Head and pronotum. 2. Sternum 9 with hammer. 3. Aedeagus, ventral. 4. Aedeagus, lateral. 5. Aaedeagus, dorsal.