Neochauliodes obscurus

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 : 41

Neochauliodes obscurus van der Weele

( Figures 4 , 23–24 )

Neochauliodes obscurus van der Weele, 1909: 262. Type locality: India (Manipur).

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by black body coloration and dark brown wings, with large hyaline spots forming medial and distal rows on both fore- and hindwing membranes. Both wing bases are yellow.

Female. Body length 29 mm; forewing length 38 mm, hindwing length 34 mm.

Head black, with orange clypeus ( Fig. 4 ). Compound eyes dark, ocelli yellowish brown, medially margined black. Antennae black. Mouthparts orange; mandibles with distal half reddish brown, maxillary and labial palpi brown.

Thorax black throughout. Legs black with short dense brownish setae; tarsal claws reddish brown. Wings ( Fig. 4 ) mostly dark brown with yellow bases and a few large, hyaline spots that form medial and distal rows on both wing membranes; pterostigmatic area short and creamy white. Veins dark brown but yellow in hyaline spots and pterostigmatic areas. Rs six to seven-branched, gradually curved posteriad; three crossveins between R1 and Rs.

Abdomen blackish brown, much paler on venters.

Eighth sternum ( Figs 23–24 ) subtrapezoidal in lateral view and subtriangular in ventral view, with acutely produced tip. Tenth tergum ( Fig. 23 ) short and stout, posterodorsal corners strongly produced in lateral view. Ninth gonocoxite ( Fig. 23 ) slightly narrower than tenth tergum, suboval, with rounded tip.

Male. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype Ψ, INDIA: “Manipur [ca. 94°02'E, 24°34'N], Pres[ented] by Dr Watts/ Neochauliodes obscurus Type 1908 / Holotype ” (NHM).

Distribution. India (Manipur).

Remarks. This species can be easily distinguished from the other Neochauliodes species by both wings being dark brown with yellow bases and by having a few hyaline spots both medially and distally on the membranes of both wings. In Neochauliodes sinensis species groups, there are some species with similar dark wings, such as Neochauliodes acutatus Liu & Yang, 2005 and Neochauliodes fuscus Liu & Yang, 2005 ( Liu & Yang 2005a), but the wing bases of these species are dark. Although the generic status of N. obscurus was questioned by van der Weele (1910) due to its aberrant appearance, we consider this species to belong to Neochauliodes based on the feebly sinuate anal veins of the forewings and the female tenth tergum having a small cercus. The dark wings of N. obscurus are probably formed by the expansion of the median transverse markings and some other proximal and distal markings. Similarly, the dark markings of the wings are somewhat expanded in N. subfasciatus , which seems to be closely related to N. obscurus . Thus, the male of N. obscurus reported by Matsuno et al. (2009) is herein identified to be N. subfasciatus . Therefore, the male of N. obscurus remains unknown.

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 23 – 24. Neochauliodes obscurus van der Weele. 23. Female genitalia, lateral view; 24. Female eighth sternum, ventral view. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.