Protohermes burmanus, Liu & Dvorak, 2017

Liu, Xingyue & Dvorak, Libor, 2017, New species and records of Corydalidae (Insecta: Megaloptera) from Myanmar, Zootaxa 4306 (3), pp. 428-436 : 429

Protohermes burmanus sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–4 )

Diagnosis. Body mostly blackish-brown. Wings brown, with several creamy white markings; forewing with narrow creamy white stripes beside costal crossveins on proximal half, and with ovoid or round markings respectively at proximal, median, and distal portions; hindwing with proximal half mostly creamy white, and with a large round marking distally. Male tergum 9 subtrapezoidal, strongly produced posterolaterally, with rather wide V-shaped posterior incision and longitudinal median internal inflection; sternum 9 with posterior margin deeply incised, V-shaped; gonostylus 9 extremely long, arcuately curved dorsomedially, with distal half slightly flattened and pale-colored; ectoproct much shorter than tergum 9, subcylindrical, posterolaterally distinctly produced, with apex slightly hollowed.

Description. Male. Body length 24 mm; forewing length 35 mm, hindwing length 31 mm.

Head entirely shiny black, without post-ocular spines; anterior margin of clypeus yellowish brown. Compound eyes blackish-brown; ocelli pale yellow with inner margin black. Posterior ocelli widely separated from median ocellus, distance between them about twice width of median ocellus. Antenna black. Mouthparts yellowish brown; maxillary and labial palpi yellowish with distal three segments brownish.

Thorax mostly blackish-brown; pronotum slightly paler at middle; prosternum orange, but brownish on anterior ¼ except pale yellow margin; meso- and metanotum each with median part yellow. Legs dark brown, bearing dense, yellowish, short setae; tarsal claws reddish brown. Wings ( Fig. 1 ) brown, with several creamy white markings. Forewing with narrow creamy white stripes beside costal crossveins on proximal half; one large ovoid marking and two small spots present near wing base; median part with two round markings (fused with each other in left forewing) and some small spots; distal part with a large round marking. Hindwing with proximal ½ creamy white except for costal space with dark patches; distal ½ with a large round marking. Veins blackish-brown, except for those at pale markings yellow. RP 8-branched; MA mostly trifurcate; 9-10 crossveins between RA and RP; MP1 5 or 6-branched, MP2 2-branched.

Abdomen blackish-brown. Tergum 9 ( Fig. 2 ) subtrapezoidal, strongly produced posterolaterally, with small arcuate anterior incision and rather wide V-shaped posterior incision; longitudinal median internal inflection present. Sternum 9 ( Fig. 3 ) broad, slightly widened posteriorly; anterior margin with median portion slightly produced; posterior margin deeply incised, V-shaped, separating a pair of broad subtriangular lobes. Gonostylus 9 ( Fig. 2 ) extremely long, unguiform, arcuately curved dorsomedially, with distal half slightly flattened and palecolored. Ectoproct ( Fig. 2 ) much shorter than tergum 9, subcylindrical, posterolaterally distinctly produced, with apex slightly hollowed. Fused gonocoxites 10 ( Fig. 3 ) feebly sclerotized, narrow, arched, with broadened dorsomedial lobes; gonostyli 10 slender, widely separated, and slightly curved ventrad.

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype ♂, MYANMAR: N[orthern], 65 km NW [= northwestern] Putao [a town of Kachin State, 27°19′59″N 97°25′39″E], Zi Yar Dam vill[age]., 1250 m, 18-21.V.1998, S. Murzin & V. Siniaev ( LDPC).

Distribution. Myanmar (Kachin).

Etymology. The new species is named after its distribution in Burma (= Myanmar).

Remarks. The new species apparently belongs to the P. differentialis species-group, which was proposed by Liu & Yang (2006a), in having similar blackish-brown body and wings, with creamy white wing marking patterns, and similar male genitalic features (e.g., the tergum 9 strongly produced posterolaterally and with longitudinal median internal inflection, the elliptical and flattened callus cerci, and the extremely long gonostylus 9). However, the new species can be easily distinguished from the other two species of the P. differentialis group. Protohermes burmanus differs from P. differentialis Yang & Yang, 1986 (a species from southern China and northern Vietnam) by lacking long setae on scape and pedicel of male antenna, the relatively dark pronotum, male sternum 9 with broadly V-shaped posterior incision, and the slender, widely separated male gonostyli 10. In P. differentialis the male antennae have long setae on scapes and pedicels, the pronotum is orange with black lateral vittae, the male sternum 9 has narrow posteromedian incision, and the male gonostyli 10 are broad and close to each other. The new species can be separated from P. chebalingensis Liu & Yang, 2006 (a species from southeastern China) by the male sternum 9 with a broadly V-shaped posterior incision and the short male ectoproct with excavated apex. In P. chebalingensis the male sternum 9 has narrow posteromedian incision, which is similar to that in P. differentialis , and the male ectoproct is distinctly long and not excavated at the apex.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Protohermes burmanus sp. nov. 1. Habitus photo of holotype male; 2. Male genitalia, dorsal view; 3. Male genitalia, ventral view; 4. Male gonocoxites + gonostyli 10, ventral view. c: callus cercus; e: ectoproct; gst: gonostylus; gx: gonocoxite; T: tergum; S: sternum. Scale bar: 5.0 mm (1) and 1.0 mm (2 – 4).