Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999

Lin, Yu-Hsiu Hugh, Ko, Chiun-Cheng & Tseng, Hui-Yun, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the antlion tribe Myrmeleontini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) of Taiwan, European Journal of Taxonomy 969, pp. 1-61 : 28-32

Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999 stat. rev.

Figs 1E , 14–16

Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange in Miller et al., 1999: 70. Type locality: Taiwan (Hualien).

Myrmeleon formicarius – Esben-Petersen 1913: 222 (misidentification).

Myrmeleon formicalynx – Stange & Wang 1997: 52 (misidentification).

Myrmeleon wangi – Stange et al. 2003: 126. — Wang et al. 2018: 107.

Myrmeleon (Myrmeleon) wangi – Stange 2004: 338. — Lin et al. 2019: 140.

Material examined

Holotype TAIWAN • ♂ (photos examined); Hualien County, Xiulin Township, Dayulin ( Tayuling ); 24°11′16.0″ N, 121°19′25.0″ E; 2600 m a.s.l.; 1 May 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; collected as larva, emerged 5 Jun. 1998; FSCA 00091076 .

Paratypes TAIWAN – Hualien County • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); same data as for holotype; NTM 3626-001 . – Nantou County • 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); Renai Township, Qingjing (Chingjing) Farm ; 1800 m a.s.l.; 1 May 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; NTM 3626- 003 , 3626-004 • 1 ♂; Renai Township, Wushe ; 24°00′33.7″ N, 121°06′29.8″ E; 950 m a.s.l.; 28 Apr. 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; TAMU X0405502 • 1 ♀ (larva reared to adult); same data as for preceding; NTM 3626-002 .

Additional material

TAIWAN – Hsinchu County • 1 ♀; Jianshi Township, Smangus ; 8 Sep. 2018; Jia-Yu Ci leg.; KWC • 1 ♀ (larva reared to adult); same data as for preceding; 19 Aug. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; NTU . – Hualien County • 1 ♀; Xiulin Township, Bilu (Pilu) ; 9 Jul. 2007; W.Z. Tsao leg.; NMNS • 1 ♀; Xiulin Township, Cien (Tzuen) ; 1900 m a.s.l.; 23 Jul. 2001; W.I. Chou leg.; NMNS • 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); Wanrong Township, Yikan River ; 23°52′48.01″ N, 121°21′23.46″ E; 16 Jan. 2021; Yi Sun leg.; 1 spec. preserved in alcohol; NTU . – Nantou County • 1 ♂; Renai Township, Biluxi ; 20 Sep. 1997; Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; det. as Myrmeleon fornicalynx ; NTM • 1 ♀; Renai Township, Chunyang ; 31 May 1995; M.L. Chan and C.S. Lin leg.; by UV light; NMNS • 1 ♀; Renai Township, Cuifeng ; 12 Jul. 1998; Guo-Long Lin leg.; NTU • 2 ♀♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); Renai Township, Highland Experimental Farm N.T.U. , Chunyang Farm ; 16 May 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; 1 spec. preserved in alcohol; NTU • 1 ♀; Renai Township, Huisun Forest Area ; 4 May 1985; C.F. Yan leg.; NCHU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Renai Township, Provincial Highway No. 14 Km 94.5 ; 7 Oct. 2021; Bao-Cheng Lai and Jing-Fu Tsai leg.; NMNS • 1 ♂; Renai Township, Wushe ; 1150 m a.s.l.; 19–23 Jun. 1979; K.S. Lin and B.H. Chen leg.; TARI • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; 3 Jun. 1994; S.T. Yang leg.; NCHU • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Renai Township, Meifeng , 30 km S of Tayuling; 2200 m a.s.l.; 1–8 Jun. 1980; D.R. Davis leg.; forest; USNM . – Taichung City • 1 ♀; Heping District, Anmachan Cottage ( Anma Lodge ); 1 Aug. 2005; Y.L. Chen leg.; by hand; NMNS .

Re-description of the adult

MEASUREMENTS (♂ n =1, ♀ n = 4). Body length: ♂ 28.0 mm, ♀ 28.3–32.9 mm; forewing: length ♂ 31.8 mm, ♀ 37.7–42.3 mm; width ♂ 6.8 mm, ♀ 7.5–8.5 mm; width/length ratio ♂ 0.2138, ♀ 0.2036; hindwing: length ♂ 29.9 mm, ♀ 34.5–40.5 mm; width ♂ 5.6 mm, ♀ 6.4–6.7 mm; width/length ratio ♂ 0.1873, ♀ 0.1777.

HEAD ( Fig. 14A–B ). Vertex strongly raised, rounded, black, 4 shiny black spots along anterior margin and 4 shiny black spots along posterior margins, with sparse short black hairs; occiput dark brown, with a pale-yellow line in middle. Frons shiny black, covered with sparse short hyaline hairs; gena whitish-yellow, with an incomplete white line along ocular rim; clypeus whitish-yellow with a pair of dark brown spots (sometimes covering dorsal half of clypeus), with sparse hyaline hairs. Antenna brown, short, with slightly defined club, covered with short dark hairs; scape dark brown with a ring of white band at base; pedicel dark brown; flagellum comprising approximately 30 flagellomeres. Mouthparts reddish-yellow, labrum reddish-yellow, with several hyaline hairs; maxillary palps yellow, with 5 th and 6 th palpomeres black, labial palps yellow, 3 rd palpomere black, fusiform, tapering to acute apex, with black round palpimacula on apical ⅓; submentum with long dark hairs.

THORAX ( Fig. 14B ). Pronotum broad, shorter than wide, dark brown, anterior margin with a yellow medial line and yellow bands on lateral side, membrane brown in middle, white on lateral side, with hyaline hairs and long dark hairs. Cervical sclerites dark brown, with whitish-yellow markings. Mesonotum dark brown. Metanotum dark brown, covered with sparse hyaline hairs. Meso- and metapleuron dark brown, moderately covered with long hyaline hairs.

LEGS. Whitish-yellow, short. Coxae moderately covered with long hyaline hairs; fore coxae whitish-yellow, with brown spot on anterior surface; mid- and hind coxae dark brown. Femora moderately covered with short dark hairs, mixed with sparse long black setae; fore femur whitish-yellow, brown on posterior surface and apex; mid- and hind femora whitish-yellow on basal half and brown on distal half; femoral sense hair length about ½ length of femur on fore and mid legs, absent on hind leg. Tibiae moderately covered with short dark hairs, mixed with sparse long black setae; fore tibia brown; mid- and hind tibia brown, slightly yellow on ventral surface. Tibial spurs red, short, slender, almost straight, approximately as long as tarsomere 1 (shorter on hind leg). Tarsi black, reddish at base, sparsely covered with short dark hairs dorsally, short black setae ventrally; tarsomere 1 as long as combined length of tarsomeres 2–4; tarsomere 5 approximately as long as combined length of tarsomeres 1–4. Pretarsal claws red, short, simple, curved, shorter than tibial spurs.

WINGS ( Fig. 14C ). Without markings, hyaline. Forewings narrow, acute at apex; veins and crossveins mostly pale brown, Sc, RA and CuA finely alternating brown and pale yellow; costal area without interconnected crossveins, distal crossveins often branched; presectoral area with 7–9 crossveins and 0–2 irregular cells; RP arising slightly beyond CuA fork, with 18–24 crossveins from origin of RP to hypostigmatic cell; CuP supporting 1 cell before fusing with 1A; 3A mostly fused with 2A; hypostigmatic cell long; pterostigma pale white; anterior Banksian line absent, posterior Banksian line distinct. Hindwings slightly shorter and narrower than forewings; acute at apex; presectoral area with 5 crossveins and 0 irregular cells; RP arising beyond MP fork, at origin runs closer to MA, with 16–23 crossveins from origin of RP to hypostigmatic cell; hypostigmatic cell as long as forewing; pterostigma pale white; anterior Banksian line absent, posterior Banksian line distinct, directly below CuA; male with pilula axillaris.

ABDOMEN ( Fig. 1E ). Shorter than hindwing, tergites brown, sternite brown, densely covered with short dark hairs dorsally and laterally, hyaline hairs ventrally.

FEMALE TERMINALIA ( Fig. 15A–B ). Tergite VIII at least 2 times as wide as tergite IX. Tergite IX narrow, rectangular in lateral view. Ectoproct trapezoid in lateral view, with long, black digging setae on ventral half. Lateral gonapophyses semicircular in lateral view, smaller than ectoproct, with long, black digging setae on posterior side and long, thin, black setae on ventral side. Posterior gonapophyses long, slender, with long, black setae. Anterior gonapophyses slightly lobed, wide, separated, with long, thick, black setae. Pregenital plate absent.

MALE GENITALIA ( Figs 15C–D , 16 ). Ectoproct rectangular in lateral view, dorsal margin as long as ventral margin, covered with short pale brown hair, ventral half with long black setae. Sternite IX shorter than combined length of tergite IX and ectoproct, tapered in ventral view, with long black setae posteriorly. Gonarcus hyaline, arched, with very short lateral arm produced posteriorly in lateral view, membrane with short black setae. Mediuncus well sclerotized, brown, semicircular in lateral view, inverted V-shaped in caudal view. Parameres well sclerotized, large, dark brown, triangular in caudal view, separated, with short black setae in between, lateral view with a ventral projection.

Distribution

Taiwan (central mountainous area) ( Fig. 31E ).

Biology

From the collecting and emergence date of the examined specimens, the adults appear from April to November. The larvae inhabit mountainous areas, usually found under rock overhangs, artificial structure or river sand deposits in altitudes above 1000 m a.s.l. ( Lin et al. 2021).

Remarks

Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999 was proposed as a junior synonym of Myrmeleon trivialis by Ábrahám (2017). However, he did not mention whether he compared types of both names, but only stated that M. trivialis is widely distributed in the Oriental region and the species is morphologically variable.After comparing the specimens from Taiwan with specimens of M. trivialis from Yunan, China, and images of specimens from Pakistan in Hassan et al. (2022), the two species are different in the male genitalia, particularly the shapes of the mediuncus and parameres ( Hassan et al. 2022: fig. 19e–g). Due to this, it is clear that M. wangi is a separate species from M. trivialis .

This species is large-sized, and the adults can be distinguished from the other species from Taiwan by the markings on pronotum ( Fig. 14B ).

Figures

Fig. 1. Adult habitus of species of Myrmeleontini Latreille, 1802 of Taiwan, lateral view. A. Baliga asakurae (Okamoto, 1910), ♀ (NTU). B. B. brunneipennis (Esben-Petersen, 1913), ♀ (NTU). C. Myrmeleon tenuipennis Rambur, 1842, ♀ (NTU). D. M. littoralis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♀ (NTU). E. M. wangi Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). F. M. heppneri Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). G. M. persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). H. M. punctinervis Banks, 1937, ♀ (NTU). I. M. taiwanensis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). Scale bars = 10.0 mm.

Fig. 14. Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999 (NTU). A. Head, frontal view. B. Head and thorax, dorsal habitus.C. Wings.Abbreviations: A = anal veins; C = costa; Cu = cubitus; CuA = cubitus anterior; CuP = cubitus posterior; MA = media anterior; MP = media posterior; pB = posterior Banksian line; RA= radius anterior; RP = radius posterior; Sc = subcosta. Scale bars: A–B = 1.0 mm; C = 10.0 mm.

Fig. 15. Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999 (NTU). A. Female terminalia, lateral view. B. Same, ventral view. C. Male terminalia, lateral view. D. Same, ventral view. Abbreviations: ag = anterior gonapophysis; ect = ectoproct; lg = lateral gonapophysis; pg = posterior gonapophysis; pp = pregenital plate; S = sternites; T = tergites. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig. 16. Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999, male genitalia (NTU). A. Lateral view. B. Ventral view. C. Caudal view. Abbreviations: gon = gonarcus; med = mediuncus; par = parameres. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 31. Distribution of Myrmeleontini Latreille, 1802 from Taiwan and adjacent islands. A. Baliga asakurae (Okamoto, 1910). B. B. brunneipennis (Esben-Petersen, 1913). C. Myrmeleon tenuipennis Rambur, 1999.D. M. littoralis Miller & Stange, 1999.E. M. wangi Miller & Stange, 1999.F. M. heppneri Miller & Stange, 1999. G. M. persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999. H. M. punctinervis Banks, 1937. I. M. taiwanensis Miller & Stange, 1999.