Megalestes haui Wilson & Reels, 2003

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 : 259

Megalestes haui Wilson & Reels, 2003

( Figs. 3i ; 4i ; 5 g–h, u–v; 6f)

Megalestes haui Wilson & Reels, 2003: 256–257 , figs. 46–57 [Shiwandashan, Guangxi, China]; Karube 2014: 74, fig. 2 [Tam Dao, Vinh Phu, Vietnam]; Phan & To 2018: 1–6, figs. 4–6, 12–13, 22–24 [Hoang Lien National Park, Lao Cai, Vietnam]. Megalestes palaceus Zhou & Zhou, 2008: 1–2 , figs. 1–5 [Xiaodanjiang, Leishan, Guizhou, China]. Syn. nov.

We examined eight specimens ( Table 1), including specimens collected from the type locality of M. palaceus and holotype photos of M. haui that were provided by Dr. Guanhong Huang from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong. Characters of caudal appendages, genitalia and ligula, and body color pattern are coincident among all these individuals. In the molecular phylogeny, M. haui and M. palaceus nested in the same clade with strong support (BPP= 0.8) and cannot be further separated ( Fig. 7 ). Most independent evidence supports classifying these two as the same species ( Fig. 8 ). Therefore, we believe M. palaceus is a junior synonym of M. haui . This species is known to occur in Guangxi and Guizhou in China and in northern Vietnam.

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

FIGURE 8. Molecular and morphology-based species delimitation of Megalestes. M: morphological character method; lg: genital ligula; app: caudal appendages, including cerci and paraprocts; GD: genetic distance; TC: traditional classification.