Amphinemura simifleurdelia, Mo & Wang & Yang & Li & Murányi, 2020

Mo, Raorao, Wang, Guoquan, Yang, Ding, Li, Weihai & Murányi, Dávid, 2020, Two new species of the Amphinemura sinensis group (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from southern China, Zootaxa 4820 (2), pp. 337-350 : 343-346

Amphinemura simifleurdelia sp. n.

( Figs. 5–8 )

Diagnosis. Male: terga IX–X with short spines, epiproct with apically outcurved and downcurved lateral processes and slightly longer, apically upcurved median process, paraproctal median lobe long and apically with a black spine, outer lobe heavily sclerotized and with double apical spines. Female: pregenital plate pale, subgenital plate subquadrate and bicolored with small posteromedial indentation, inner genitalia with a short and stripe-like medial sclerite.

Male habitus ( Figs. 5 a–5b). Body color brown to dark brown. Head and mouthparts dark brown; antennae brown, and palpi paler; compound eyes black; head wider than pronotum; pronotum brown with paler lateral edges, rectangular with obscure rugosities but older or well sclerotized specimens with distinct dark brown markings; legs brown, femora paler. Wing membranes subhyaline, veins brown. Abdominal segments light brown with darker terminalia.

Male ( Figs. 5–7 ). Forewing length 5.3–5.5 mm, hind wing length 4.3–4.5 mm. Tergum IX heavily sclerotized, but lateral area lighter, with subtriangular anterior and posterior indentations, and with two groups of tiny black spines and several long bristles present along mid-posterior margin. ( Figs. 6a, 6c , 7a, 7c ). Slender vesicle of sternum IX claviform, length 3.0X maximum width, basally and medially constricted. Hypoproct rectangular basally, gradually narrowing toward nipple-like tip ( Figs. 6 b–6c, 7b–7c). Tergum X darkly sclerotized, a membranous concavity present below the epiproct, and with two groups of short, black spines on either sides of the epiproct. Cercus slightly sclerotized, short, cylindrical, weakly curved inward, about as long as 2.5X width. Epiproct ( Figs. 6a, 6 c–6d, 7a, 7c–7d) subrectangular, trifurcate with a median process and a pair of horn-like lateral processes, the median process slightly longer than lateral processes. Dorsal sclerite with a rectangular membranous basal half; horn-like lateral processes strongly sclerotized, apically outcurved and downcurved with several denticles on both sides of the blunt tip. Ventral sclerite dark and strongly sclerotized, subtriangular in dorsal view, broad at base, tapering toward tip, slightly up-curved apically in lateral view, expanded ventrally into a small ridge with rows of tiny black spines. Paraproct trilobed ( Figs. 5 c–5e, 6a–6c, 7a–7c): inner lobe sclerotized, triangular and moderately long; median lobe long and narrow, distinctly sclerotized, strongly curved upward and outward, apically with a black spine in membranous, slightly swollen tip; outer lobe slender and heavily sclerotized, distinctly curved outward apically, and with two short black apical spines.

Female ( Fig. 8 ). Forewing length 6.5–6.7 mm, hind wing length 5.5–5.8 mm. Sternum VII produced in a weakly sclerotized semicircular pregenital plate slightly covering anterior half of subgenital plate. Sternum VIII forms sclerotized subquadrate subgenital plate with a triangular anterior notch, posteriorly directed triangular medial area pale and lightly sclerotized, contrasting the mostly dark brown plate. Paragenital plate paired, forming subquadrate brown lobes connected with posterolateral corner of subgenital plate. Sternum IX weakly sclerotized, trapezoidal. Paraprocts short and wide triangular, with blunt tip; cerci short and pale. Inner genitalia ( Fig. 8d ) membranous, opening under the posteromedial notch of the subgenital plate, having a basal pouch, a pair of leaf-shaped lateromedial sclerites attached above the pouch, and an apical cone; The pouch is armed with a short, longitudinal sclerite well seen by transparency through the subgenital plate; apical cone membranous with an apical circular sclerite ring.

Type Material. Holotype: male ( HIST), China: Guangdong Province, Maoming City, Xinyi City, Dacheng Town , Yunkaishan National Natural Reserve , the bridge next to the security office at the entrance to the reserve, 966 m, 22º16'34" N, 111º11'43" E, 2018.X.4, light trap, Raorao Mo, Fengping Qin, Wei Liu, Shuai Tang . Paratypes: 5 males, 4 females ( HIST) , same locality and date as holotype ; 3 males, 1 female ( HIST) , Yunkaishan National Natural Reserve , the river at the gate of the reserve, 987 m, 22º16’34”N, 111º11’43”E, 2018.X.5, Raorao Mo, Fengping Qin, Wei Liu, Shuai Tang ; 5 males, 5 females ( GXU) , 2 males, 2 females ( HNHM) , same locality, 2018.X.4, Raorao Mo, Fengping Qin, Wei Liu, Shuai Tang .

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the similarity to the closely related A. fleurdelia ( Wu, 1949) .

Distribution and ecology. The new species is known from southern China, the type series was collected from a stream at medium elevations of the isolated mountain systems of the Yunkaishan National Natural Reserve, Guangdong Province. Amphinemura simifleurdelia was collected together with A. retusilobata from the same habitat ( Figs. 9 a–c), but not in Neichao, the other known locality of that species, suggesting perhaps a more restricted distribution of A. simifleurdelia .

Remarks. The new species belongs to the A. sinensis group and closely resembles A. fleurdelia ( Wu, 1949) . The two species share the following characteristics: tergum X has a pair of paramedial groups of short spines, inner paraproct lobes triangular and outer lobe of paraproct strongly curved outward apically, with two black, short spines. However, ventral sclerite of epiproct is nearly straight in lateral view with slightly upcurved tip, and median paraproct lobes only slightly swollen with a distinct black apical spine in A. simifleurdelia . In A. fleurdelia , apical ventral sclerite of epiproct distinctly curved downward in lateral view and apical median paraproct lobes global with several tiny spines. At a lesser extent, the new species is also resembles A. elongata Li, Yang & Sivec, 2005b from Zhejiang Province in the tergum X, inner and outer paraproct lobes, and ventral sclerite of epiproct in lateral view, but the new species can be separated from A. elongata by the approximately equal length of median and lateral processes of epiproct and slender median paraproct lobes. In A. elongata , the median process is distinctly longer than lateral processes of epiproct, and median paraproct lobes are medially twisted.

Amphinemura fleurdelia , A. elongata and A. simifleurdelia may be a species complex within the A. sinensis species group. Amphinemura fleurdelia is also present in Guangdong, specimens were described and illustrated by Li et al. (2005b: Figs. 6 –11). Discovery of further populations are needed to evaluate morphological and genetic variability within the complex, but distinction at species level seems reasonable, since several specimens in the known populations explain stable morphological characters. A single male, deposited in the National Museum Prague (Guangdong, Nanling National Nature Reserve, Dadongshan, border of mixed forest, 690 m, 24°56.0’ N, 112°42.9’ E, 2013.IV.18–21, collected at light, J. Hájek, J. Růžička), may represents a further species, distinguished by several spines on the outer lobe of the paraproct and shorter median process of the epiproct. However, this taxon will not be described until additional specimens become available for study.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Amphinemura simifleurdelia sp. n. (male). a. Head and pronotum, dorsal view. b. Head and pronotum, dorsal view. c. Left paraproct, ventral view. d. Apex of median and outer lobes of left paraproct, caudal view. e. Apex of median and outer lobes of left paraproct, caudal view.

FIGURE 6. Amphinemura simifleurdelia sp. n. (male). a. Terminalia, dorsal view. b. Terminalia, ventral view. c. Terminalia, lateral view. d. Epiproct, top view.

FIGURE 7. Amphinemura simifleurdelia sp. n. (male). a. Terminalia, dorsal view. b. Terminalia, ventral view. c. Terminalia, lateral view. d. Epiproct, dorsal view.

FIGURE 8. Amphinemura simifleurdelia sp. n. (female). a. Terminalia, ventral view. b. Terminalia after being cleared, ventral view. c. Vaginal complex after being cleared, dorsal view. d. Vaginal complex after being cleared, dorsal view.

FIGURE 9. a–c. Type locality habitat of Amphinemura retusilobata sp. n. and A. simifleurdelia sp. n. in Yunkaishan National Natural Reserve, Guangdong Province, China. d. Habitat of paratypes of A. retusilobata sp. n. in lower section of Longmugou River, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.