Gymnocnemia editaerevayae Michel

Michel, Bruno, 2013, A new species of Gymnocnemia Schneider, 1845 from Morocco with additional diagnostic data for the genus (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae), Zootaxa 3710 (1), pp. 93-98 : 94-96

Gymnocnemia editaerevayae Michel , nov. sp.

Diagnosis. Medium sized species. No tibial spurs. Forelegs longer than middle and hind legs. Cubital marks of fore wings long and black.

Description. Dimensions. Length of the body: ♀ 50–52 mm. Forewing: ♂ 22 mm; ♀ 23–25 mm. Hind wing: ♂ 20 mm; ♀ 22–23 mm. Wing span: ♂ 43 mm; ♀ 47–51 mm. (Based on 1 male and 3 females).

Head. Yellow. Face with black markings: two on each side of suture between clypeus and front, two thin stripes below base of antennae, two that may be merged between antennae, two comma-like stripes on antennae, a median stripe variably extended laterally, two dots close to eye margin ( Fig. 2 ). Vertex with four dots approximately aligned. Occiput with two large markings ( Fig. 1 ). Scape and pedicel with a tiny dorsal brown dot. Flagellomeres uniformly black dorsally. Thorax. Pronotum. Posterior lobe with stout black erect setae, largely bordered with black. Dorsally with two large longitudinal black stripes narrowed or more or less interrupted at the level of the transverse furrow ( Fig. 1 ). Meso and metanotum. Mainly black. Mesonotum with stout black erect setae. Foreleg. Very slender and longer than mid and hind legs. Basal half of coxa with a dorsal brown stripe. Femur and tibia with apex black and dotted with small black spots. Tarsomeres black apicaly, T1 = T2+T3, T2 = 0.6 T1, T3 = 0.4 T1, T4 = 0.3 T1, T5 = 0.5 T1. Middle leg. Very slender. Coxa black basally. Femur with two parallel longitudinal black lines. Tibia dotted with black spots, larger than those of foreleg. Tarsomeres stouter than in foreleg, T1 = 1.8 T2+T3, T2 = 0.33 T1, T3 = 0.22 T1, T4 = 0.22 T1, T5 = 0.6 T1. Hind leg. Very slender. Coxa black basally. Femur and tibia black apically. Tarsomeres as in middle leg. Forewing. Ratio length/greatest width = 5. Costa yellow. Subcosta black at base of each crossvein. Radius with long black stripes absent from base of some crossveins. Pterostigma small, more or less suffused. Cubital mark arched, black, extended along eight or nine crossveins between branches of cubital fork. Gradate crossveins bordered with dark. Hind wing. Slightly shorter than forewing. Membrane unmarked. Abdomen. Tergite I black. Tergite II black dorsally, bordered with yellow. Tergite III with anterior margin lined with black. This mark sharp in the middle and the sides are extended along the lateral margins without reaching posterior margin. A second ovoid spot in the distal part. Tergite IV with the same markings as tergite III but these markings are finely connected. Tergites V to VIII mainly black with two dorso-lateral yellow patches decreasing in size ( Fig. 1 ). Male terminalia. Ectoproct rounded without postventral lobe ( Fig. 3 ). Subgenital plate widely indented ( Fig. 3 ). Male genitalia. Gonarcus U-shaped. Parameres wide, indented in lateral view ( Figs. 13, 14 ). Female terminalia. Anterior gonapophyse absent. Posterior gonapophyse finger-like ( Figs. 5, 6 ). Gonapophyseal plate brown with divergent sides ( Fig. 5 ). Pregenital plate with a stout toothlike process ( Figs 4, 5 ). Lateral gonapophyses and ectoprocts with stout black setae.

Material examined. HOLOTYPE ♀, MOROCCO, High Atlas Mountains, Oukaimeden [31° 12’ 10’’ N – 07° 51’ 36’’ W], 11–21.vii.2012, light trap, alt. 2300–2500 m, G. Müller & E. Revay leg. PARATYPES, 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, same data as holotype. All deposited in collection CIRAD-CBGP (Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations), Montpellier, France.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Ecology. The type locality is located in the High Atlas Mountains, above 2000 m and surrounded to the South and Southeast by 4000 m summits. The cold months are October to March, with temperatures between -13 °C and 20 °C, while the hot months are April to September with temperatures between -5 °C and 25.6 °C. The annual rainfall is about 363 mm and June to November is the driest period. The daily mean humidity is 40% (Jabiri et al., 2000).

Larva. The larva of G. editaerevayae nov. sp. is unknown. The larva of G. variegata , which does not construct pitfall traps, was described by Cesaroni et al. (2010).

Etymology. I dedicate this species to Ms. Edita Revay.

Comparison with Gymnocnemia variegata Schneider, 1845 . In Gymnocnemia variegata the body coloration is paler and the cubital marks of forewings are short and suffused ( Figs. 1 , 7 ). The wings are wider, in forewing ration length/greatest width = 4.1.In the male the sub-genital plate is slightly indented ( Figs. 4 , 9 ); the parameres are narrow with apical extension in ventral view and not indented in lateral view ( Figs. 13, 14 ). In the female the gonapophyseal plates are black and ribbon-like ( Figs. 5 , 10 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Gymnocnemia editaerevayae nov. sp. 1 — Habitus of holotype ♀. 2 — Face of holotype. 3 — Terminalia of paratype ♂, lateral view. 4 — idem, ventral view. 5 — Terminalia of paratype ♀, ventro-lateral view. 6 — idem, ventral view. Abbreviations. cm: cubital mark. e: ectoproct. gp: gonapophyseal plate. lg: lateral gonapophyses. pg: posterior gonapophyses. sp: subgenital plate. tp: toothlike process of pregenital plate. vii, viii: seventh and eighth tergites.

FIGURES 11 – 14. Gymnocnemia spp. 11 — G. editaerevayae nov. sp., genitalia ♂, ventral view. 12 — idem, lateral view. 13 — G. variegata, genitalia ♂, ventral view. 14 — idem, lateral view. Abbreviations. g: gonarcus. p: parameres.

FIGURES 7 – 10. Gymnocnemia variegata. 7 — Habitus (specimen Museum of Genova). 8 — Terminalia of ♂, lateral view. 9 — Subgenital plate of ♂, ventral view. 10 — Terminalia of ♀, ventro-lateral view. Abbreviations as in Figs. 1 – 6.