Megalestes australis Karube, 2014

Yu, Xin & Xue, Junli, 2020, A review of the damselfly genus Megalestes Selys, 1862 (Insecta: Odonata Zygoptera: Synlestidae) using integrative taxonomic methods, Zootaxa 4851 (2), pp. 245-270 : 258

Megalestes australis Karube, 2014

( Figs. 3a ; 4a ; 5a, n ; 6a )

Megalestes australis Karube, 2014: 73–76 , fig. 3 [Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam]; Phan & To 2018: 1–6, figs. 7–9, 14–18, 25–27 [Tay Giang, Quang Nam; Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam].

This is a relatively large Vietnam endemic species, somewhat resembling M. heros and M. distans in the shape of appendages but unique in the shape of the genital ligula with relatively long and thin horns ( Fig. 4a, n ). Its species status was supported by molecular analyses ( Fig. 7 ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Caudal appendages of males (dorsal view). a) australis; b) irma, paratype; c) distans, from Yaan, Sichuan; d) distans from Dashahe, Guizhou; e) heros; f) omeiensis, paratype; g) kurahashii; h) major; i) haui; j) “palaceus”; k) micans, bd: basal disk; l) “chengi”; m) riccii; n) “maai”; o) “tuska,” from Damingshan, Guangxi; p) “tuska,” from Jinxiu, Guangxi. (Scale bar = 0.5 mm).

FIGURE 4. Caudal appendages of males (lateral view). a) australis; b) irma, paratype; c) distans, from Yaan, Sichuan; d) distans from Qingchengshan, Chengdu, Sichuan; e) heros; f) omeiensis, paratype; g) kurahashii; h) major; i) haui; j) “palaceus”; k) micans; l) “Chengi,” paratype; m) riccii; n) maai; o) tuska, from Damingshan, Guangxi; p) tuska, from Jinxiu, Guangxi. (Scale bar = 0.5 mm).

FIGURE 5. Genital ligula of males (lateral view) (a–m) and ventral view (n–ab). a) australis; b) distans; c) heros; d) omeiensis, paratype; e) major; f) irma, paratype; g) “palaceus”; h) haui; i) “Chengi”; j) maai; k) riccii; l) tuska; m) micans; n) australis, Hr: horn; o) distans, Tlb: terminal lateral lobe; p) heros; q) omeiensis, paratype; r) major; s) irma, paratype; t) kurahashii; u) “palaceus”; v) haui; w) micans, from Jinping, Yunnan; x) “Chengi”; y) maai; z) riccii, Blb: basal lateral lobe; aa) tuska, Mlb: middle lateral lobe; ab) micans, from Fengyangshan, Zhejiang. (Scale bar = 0.2 mm).

FIGURE 6. Line drawing of male paraprocts (lateral view). a) australis; b) distans; c) gyalsey; d) kurahashii; e) major; f) haui; g) heros; h) omeiensis; i) micans; j) micans; k) riccii; l) irma.

FIGURE 7. Phylogenetic reconstruction from ITS data modified based on BI and ML trees, with both posterior probabilities (right) and bootstrap values (left) shown.