Nyctiophylax totaktoetak Melnitsky, Ivanov & Perkovsky, 2024

Melnitsky, Stanislav I., Ivanov, Vladimir D., Perkovsky, Evgeny E. & Legalov, Andrei A., 2024, The new species and two new records of Polycentropodidae (Insecta: Trichoptera) from Eocene Rovno amber, Ecologica Montenegrina 75, pp. 1-11 : 4

Nyctiophylax totaktoetak Melnitsky, Ivanov & Perkovsky sp. n.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3E1AA587-C5B6-46F0-A8C7-CD88811D377D

( Figs 3 – 6 )

Type material: Holotype. Male. SIZK L–409, L–409/A, Voronki, Rovno amber, late Eocene . Paratype. Male. SIZK L–408 Voronki, Rovno amber, late Eocene . Holotype and paratype were found in the same piece of amber.

Other syninclusions: SIZK L–410 Hymenoptera .

Description. Body length 3.0 mm; forewing length 4.0 mm. Head, antennae and legs brown. Thorax, abdomen and wings light brown. Wings with sparse light hairs. Warts of head with brown hairs, warts of thorax with light hairs.

Male genitalia. Inferior appendages in ventral view have irregularly triangular shape with serrated posterior edge and with strong lateral hook. Posterior margin of segment X with median notch. Ventrolateral projection of segment X in a shape of dark curved processes with a dorsal process closer to its apex. The apex of this projection is thin and directed downwards. Preanal appendages wide with club-shaped ventral projection covered by long hairs along the widened terminal margin. Aedeagus with sclerotized apex.

Comparison. The new species is somewhat similar to Nyctiophylax claviger Ulmer, 1912 from Baltic amber and differs from it by the structure of the inferior appendages and by the shape of ventrolateral projection of segment X: Nyctiophylax claviger with ventrolateral projection of segment X long, without dorsal process; inferior appendage without strong lateral hook.

Etymology. The specific name totaktoetak is indeclinable and must not agree in gender with its generic name; it derives from Russian and means “this way or that way”.

Distribution. Priabonian Rovno amber.

Remarks. The specimens were found in the clear piece of amber L-325 (weight 13.4 g, dimensions 52x 25 mm, maximal thickness 22 mm).

Figures

Figure 3. Nyctiophylax totaktoetak sp. nov. Male type, general view, lateral. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Figure 4. Nyctiophylax totaktoetak sp. nov. Male type, genitalia, ventrocaudal. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.

Figure 5. Nyctiophylax totaktoetak sp. nov. Male paratype, genitalia, ventrolaterocaudal view. Scale bar = 0.4 mm.

Figure 6. Nyctiophylax totaktoetak sp. nov. A – Male type, genitalia, ventrocaudal view. B – Male type, ventrolateral projections of 10th segment, lateral view. C – Male paratype, preanal appendages, lateral view. Abbreviations: X – 10th segment; aed – aedeagus, dp – dorsal process of ventrolateral projections of 10th segment, ia – inferior appendages, lh – lateral hook of inferior appendages vlp – ventrolateral projections of 10th segment, pa – preanal appendages.