Rhionaeschna caligo, Bota, Cornelio Andrés, 2014

Bota, Cornelio Andrés, 2014, A brief look at the Odonata from the Páramo ecosystems in Colombia, with the descriptions of Oxyallagma colombianum sp. nov. and Rhionaeschna caligo sp. nov. (Odonata: Coenagrionidae, Aeshnidae, Libellulidae), Zootaxa 3856 (2), pp. 192-210 : 199-200

Rhionaeschna caligo sp. nov.

Figs. 1 a (Habitus ♂), 1c (Frontal ♂), 2b – e (Diagnostic traits), Table 1 (coordinates).

Etymology. From Latin caligo meaning fog, to be treated as a noun in apposition. The name refers to this species’ habit of flying even on cold and foggy days.

Type material (8 ♂) Colombia: Antioquia: Páramo El Morro: 2 ♂, 15 – 17.vi.2012, Leg: C. Bota, C. Moreno, J. Del Río, J. Caly & M. Moreno. Páramo Sabanas: 2 ♂: 3.x.2011, Leg: C. Bota & J. D. Castaño. Páramo El Congo: 4 ♂, 10 – 14.ix.2011, Leg: L. Ríos & J. Zapata.

Description. Holotype: Head: Labium brown. Labrum light blue, with lateral margins yellow, and ventral and dorsal margin dark brown. Clypeus light blue, with lateral margins yellow. Frons yellow, light blue spots lateral to yellow area surrounding T-spot stem; T-spot stem narrower than vertex, approximately parallel sided, transverse arms about as wide as stem; vertex black with green spot at anterior margin on each side; brown stripe on frontoclypeal groove not widened to fronto - ocular groove ( Fig. 1 b). Thorax: Brown with pale pterothoracic stripes yellowish green, with indentations as in Fig. 1 a; legs black except for trochanters, coxae, and basal 75% of femora reddish brown, and basal 50% of inner surface of femur I yellowish green. Wings smoky, darker at base and along costa; membranule dark except basal 50% pale; Pt whitish on ventral side and brown on dorsal side. Ax in FW: 19 right, 20 left; HW: 13 right, 12 left; Px in FW: 12 right, 13 left; HW: 15; HW with two rows of cells between RP 1 and RP 2 beginning under pterostigma. Abdomen: brown with sterna of S9 – 10 posterior to genital opercula brown, and yellowish green and light blue spots as in Fig. 1 a. Outer margin of ventral terga VII linear. Ventral tubercle of S1 rounded in lateral view, genital lobe lower than 30% of its length; anterior lamina spine as long as about two times its basal width ( Fig. 2 f); ventral portion of hamuli shorter than hamular fold ( Fig. 2 b), tip of hamular anterior process pointed ( Fig. 2 b); two teeth on left auricle, two large and a third smaller and more external tooth on right auricle; genital lobe subtriangular, about as high as S1 tubercle. Vesica spermalis distal segment with basal folds in lateral and dorsal lobes as depicted in Fig. 2 d. Dorso - distal crest of male cercus smoothly convex, tip blunt ( Fig. 2 c). Total length 62 mm. Abdomen length 45 mm. FW 45 mm. HW length 43 mm.

Variation in paratypes: Ax in FW 18 – 22, in Hw 11 – 13. Px in FW 11 – 15, in HW 13 – 17. Total length 62 – 65 mm. Abdomen length 45 – 47 mm. FW 44 – 46 mm. HW length 41 – 44 mm.

Diagnosis. This species fits within the Rhionaeschna punctata group proposed by von Ellenrieder (2003: 107), and within this group it resembles R. demarmelsi because of the blunt tips of cercus ( Fig. 2 c) and ventral portion of hamuli shorter than hamular fold ( Fig. 2 b), but it clearly differs from R. demarmelsi by its anterior lamina spine being about twice as long as its basal width ( Fig. 2 e) rather than shorter than 1.5 times its basal width as in R. demarmelsi . Couplet 4 of Key M – 4 for males of the Rhionaeschna punctata group in von Ellenrieder (2003: 76) can be modified as follows to accommodate this new species:

4. Dorso – distal crest of cercus smoothly convex in lateral view (fig. 393b); ventral portion of hamuli (A) shorter than hamular fold (B) (fig. 311a)................................................................................... 5

– Dorso – distal crest of cercus angulate in lateral view (figs. 390 – 392b); ventral portion of hamuli (A) longer than hamular fold (B) (figs. 310, 312 – 313)............................................................................... 6

5. Anterior lamina spine as long as 30% of its basal width (fig. 353 – 354); Táchira State in Venezuela (fig. 458)... demarmelsi

– Anterior lamina spine as long as 2 times its basal width; Belmira Páramo Complex in Antioquia Dep., Colombia.... caligo

Female and larva unknown.

Distribution. Belmira Páramo complex, Antioquia, Colombia. Biology. Male behavior is similar to that described for R. marchali .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Rhionaeschna caligo: (a) Male paratype (Páramo El Morro); (c) Male paratype (Páramo Sabanas). (b) Rhionaeschna marchali: Male (Tolima, Murillo).

FIGURE 2. (a) Rhionaeschna peralta female (habitus). Rhionaeschna caligo: (b) Hamuli, ventroposterior view; (c) Caudal appendages lateral view; (d) Vesica spermalis ventral view; (e) left spine of anterior lamina. (f) Rhionaeschna joannisi male (habitus). Illustrations by Natalia Uribe Macias.