Neochauliodes fletcheri Kimmins

Liu, Xingyue, Hayashi, Fumio & Yang, Ding, 2010, Revision of the fishfly genus Neochauliodes van der Weele (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) from India and adjacent regions of South Asia, Zootaxa 2692, pp. 33-50 : 35-36

Neochauliodes fletcheri Kimmins

( Figures 1 , 8–12 )

Neochauliodes fletcheri Kimmins, 1954: 434 . Type locality: India (Shillong).

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by the slightly smoky brown wings with dark markings that are indistinct in male but distinct in the female. Males can be also distinguished by the elongate and tongue-like tenth sternum which possesses a lateral pair of distinct elevated ridges in ventral view.

Male. Body length 22–33 mm; forewing length 28–34 mm, hindwing length 26–30 mm.

Head brown, much darker on frons, with clypeus yellow anteriorly ( Fig. 1 ). Compound eyes grayish brown; ocelli yellow, medially margined black. Antennae dark. Mouthparts yellow; mandibles with distal 1/3 pale reddish brown, maxillary and labial palpi pale, except distal two segments which are dark.

Thorax dark brown throughout. Legs yellowish brown with short, dense, brown setae; tibiae slightly darker, tarsi dark, tarsal claws pale reddish brown. Wings ( Fig. 1 ) hyaline, slightly tinged with smoky brown; pterostigmatic area short, whitish. Forewing almost immaculate, with a few indistinct, brownish spots on proximal half of costal area and between branches of Rs, and with distinctly brown spots on either side of pterostigmatic area. Hindwing similarly patterned, but with only one indistinct brownish stripe along stem of Rs. Veins brown. Rs six to seven-branched, feebly curved posteriad; three crossveins between R1 and Rs.

Abdomen dark. Ninth tergum ( Fig. 8 ) narrowed and produced anteroventrad in lateral view. Tenth tergum ( Figs. 8, 10 ) in lateral view subquadrate, slightly wider than long, with round posterodorsal and posteroventral corners; in dorsal view apicomedial area rounded, bearing rows of brushy setae. Tenth sternum ( Figs. 8–9 ) strongly sclerotized, lateral arms short and rounded, connected with median plate by narrow protrusions; median plate tongue-like in ventral view, anteriorly incised V-shaped, medially slightly broadened, posteriorly slightly narrowed and convex, laterally with a pair of longitudinal ridges, and bearing a few short setae proximally; median plate in lateral view straightly directed, with apex narrowed and acutely tapered.

Female. Body length 30–37 mm; forewing length 38–40 mm, hindwing length 34–36 mm.

Wings with markings distinct, much darker than those of male.

Eighth sternum ( Figs 11–12 ) subtrapezoidal in lateral view, with convex posterior margin in ventral view. Tenth tergum ( Fig. 11 ) short and stout, slightly produced posterodorsad. Ninth gonocoxite ( Fig. 11 ) broader than tenth tergum, bluntly produced posteriad.

Type material. Holotype ɗ, INDIA: “ ASSAM: Shillong [91°52'E, 25°34'N], 28.VII. [19]28, T. Bainbridge. Fletcher./T. Bainbridge Fletcher Coll. B.M. 1949-488./ Holotype / Neochauliodes fletcheri Kim [mins] ɗ D.E. Kimmins det. 1953./Abdomen in slide cabinet.” (NHM). Allotype Ψ, INDIA: “ ASSAM: Shillong, 5000 ft, 30.VII. [19]28, T. Bainbridge Fletcher Coll. B.M. 1949-488./Allotype/ Neochauliodes fletcheri Kim [mins] Ψ D.E. Kimmins det. 1953.” (NHM). Paratypes: 1ɗ, INDIA: “ ASSAM: Shillong, 5000 ft, 26.VI. [19]28, T. Bainbridge Fletcher Coll. B.M. 1949-488./ Paratype / Neochauliodes fletcheri Kim [mins] ɗ D.E. Kimmins det. 1953.” (NHM); 1ɗ, INDIA: “ ASSAM: Shillong, 10.VII. [19]28, T. Bainbridge Fletcher Coll. B.M. 1949-488./ Paratype / Neochauliodes fletcheri Kim [mins] ɗ D.E. Kimmins det. 1953.” (NHM).

Additional material. INDIA: 2Ψ, Meghalaya, Khasis [= Khasi Hills, 91°38'E, 25°35'N], Nat[tive]. Coll[ector]. (NHM); 1Ψ, Meghalaya, Shillong, 15.VI.1928, T.B. Fletcher (NHM); 1ɗ, Meghalaya, U.K. J.H. [= United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District], Thangrain [92°28'E, 25°30'N], 22.IV.1960, F. Schmid ( CNC).

Distribution. India (Meghalaya).

Remarks. The body coloration and the wing pattern in this species appear to be the same as those in N. simplex , while the body size distinctly differs between the two species, which seems to be the only reliable difference noted by Kimmins (1954). Considering the male genitalia, N. fletcheri can be distinguished from N.

simplex by the median plate of tenth sternum that is slightly broadened medially and laterally with a pair of distinctly elevated ridges in ventral view, while in N. simplex the median plate of tenth sternum is gradually narrowed toward the apex, without any broadened parts and elevated ridges.

Although Assam is presented in the specimen labels of the type series, based on the current administrative divisions of India, the type locality (Shillong), as well as the other collecting sites of this species, is found in Meghalaya State.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Habitus images of Neochauliodes spp. 1. N. fletcheri Kimmins, holotype male; 2. N. indicus (van der Weele), paralectotype male; 3. N. nepalensis sp. nov., holotype male; 4. N. obscurus van der Weele, holotype female; 5. N. simplex (Walker), lectotype male; 6. N. subfasciatus (Westwood), lectotype male; 7. N. truncatus Kimmins, holotype male. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.

FIGURES 8 – 12. Neochauliodes fletcheri Kimmins. 8. Male genitalia, lateral view; 9. Male tenth sternum, ventral view; 10. Male tenth tergum, dorsal view; 11. Female genitalia, lateral view; 12. Female eighth sternum, ventral view. T and S 8 - 10: eighth to tenth tergum and sternum; Gx 9: ninth gonocoxite; lar: lateral arm; mpl: median plate. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.