Archilestes regalis, Gloyd, 1944

Gloyd, Leonora K., 1944, A new species of Archilestes from Mexico (Odonata: Lestinae), Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 483, pp. 1-4 : 1-3

Archilestes regalis , new species

HOLOTYPE MALE.- -Labium and underparts of the head light buff; labrum bright glossy light blue, with a narrow apical margin of black; mandibles, except for the blaclr teeth and genae, pale light blue; clypeus blaclr, with an irregular blue area in medial ventral half; frons, vertex, occiput, and antennae mostly blaclr, but brown on a small area surrounding the base of antennae, on a small triangular patch lateral to the lateral ocelli, and on the filamentous terminal segment of antennae.

Prothorax dark brown to black with a large buff area on the epimeron; posterior lobe convex, entire.

Pterothorax (PI. I, Figs. 1 -2) dark brown, with large metallic green areas covering all but a narrow border of the mesepisternum and mesepimeron. Darlrer areas of brown or brownish blaclr. present as follows: a large spot on the mesinfraepisternum; a narrow ill-defined stripe on second lateral suture; lower posterior angle of the metepimeron above the carina, and a triangular patch below the carina; a large midventral area on metasternum; and a stripe on mid-ventral mesepimeral suture with a diagonal arm on each side extending from anterior end, forming an arrow-like mark.

Legs mostly black; the anterior surface of the second segnient of the trochanters and the posterior (extensor) surface of the femora, brown. Tarsal claws normal, i.e., the inferior tooth is shorter than is the superior.

Abdoinen brownish black to black, with metallic green reflections on dorsum of segments 1-3, and brown on a large diffuse, rounded, lateral spot on segment 1and on an obscure lateral stripe on segment 2. Sternite of segment 1 dark buff, with a large triangular median black spot; sternites of segments 3-9 and ventrum of 10, black.

The black posterior hamule (PI. I, Figs. 5-6 ) of abdominal segment 2 is laminate, slightly sigmoid, without a prominent high mid-lateral carina, broadened apically, and prolonged posteriorly. I t is similar in shape to that of Archilestes grandis (Rambur) , but in that species the hamule is pale buff or yellow with a dark anterior and ventral border, and the portion beyond the angulation is broader.

Superior abdominal appendages (Pl. I, Figs. 7-9 ) black, slightly longer than segments 9-10; subbasal tooth prominent; a large ventral protuberance a t about three-fourths the length; elongated apices decurved and fringed with long golden yellow bristles. Inferior appendages black except for a mesa1 border of brown or yellow, reaching to about one-fourth the length of the superiors; apices broad and blunt, heavily fringed with long, dorsally directed golden yellow bristles. The appendages, except for the long decurved apices of the superiors, are quite similar to those of A. grandis .

Wings slightly smoky; venation black or very dark brown; pterostigma dark brown, covering slightly less than 4 cells in 1 front wing, 5 in the other 3 wings. First antenodal space 4.5 mm.;third antenodal space 7.0 mm. (1.55 times first). Postnodal crossveins in front wing 20-20, in hind wing 17-17.

Origin of M, in front wing a t or near the level of third postnodal crossvein, in hind wing about halfway between second and third crossveins. Proximal side (inner end) of the quadrangle (Pl. I, Figs. 3 4 ) in front wing slightly longer than one-half the inferior and distinctly longer than the superior side; in the hind wing, slightly less than one-half the inferior and a little longer than the superior. MI, slightly zigzag, more pronounced in proximal half. Longest sector between M, and Rs arises 4 cells before the level of the pterostigma i n 1 front wing, 3 cells before that level in the other wings. Wings petiolated to Ac.

MEASUREMENTS(in mm.).-Length of abdomen, 51.0 (to apex of segment 10); superior appendages, 3.4, inferior appendages, 1.1; hind wing, 38.8; pterostigma, front and hind wings, 3.0.

Holotype male: Huichihuayan , San Luis Potosi, Mexico (elevation 250 feet or less), September 25, 1938, Louis J. Lipovslry. Williamson collection of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan .

Female unlcnown.

HABITAT.-H.Devlin Thomas said that Archilestes regalis was talren near a well-shaded spring in a wooded area. Mr. Lipovsky (in litt., November 23, 1942) wrote of the place:

Huichihuayan is situated in a densely overgrown river valley surrounded by mountains and high hills. From a collector's standpoint i t was a n entomologist's (' happy hunting grounds," and from my personal point of view i t was the most interesting locality i n which I had collected in Mexico. Primarily, i t was my conception of a tropical paradisc minus the palm trees (which are plentiful 100 miles north).... The spring Mr. Thomas mentioned flowed into a narrow stream which was from knee to hip deop i n spots. This stream meandered through the dense tropical brush.

The generic characters pertaining to Archilestes only, as given in rubric 5 of the key to genera of the subfamily Lestinae by Munzl a r e: "The inner end of the quadrangle almost onehalf the length of the lower side. MI +, forking less than two cells beyond the subnodus. The third antenodal space almost twice the length of the first." According to this, regalis would qualify only on the first character. On the second, it would follow through the key to Lestes in which MI +, is supposed to fork from 3 to 7 cells beyond the subnodus, and on the third character, i t would be uncomfortably close to the dividing line between Archilestes and Lestes , in which the third antenodal space is less than one and one-half times the first. As an indication of the variability of these last two characters, ten specimens each of Archilestes grandis (Rambur) , Lestes eurinus Say , and L. vigilax Hagen were selected for study. I n A. grandis , the forking of MI+, (i.e., the origin of M,) took place anterior to the level of the second antenodal crossvein in all wings; in Lestes eurinzcs, a t or proximal to 2 i n 4 wings, between 2 and 3 in 22 wings, and from 3 to 4 in 14 wings; in L, vigilax, a t 3 i n 2 wings, and between 3 and 6 in 38 wings. The third antenodal space of the front wing was twice the length of the first in half, and less (1.75) i n the other half of the specimens of A. grandis ; less than twice in L. eurilzus but more than one and one-half times (1.6); and distinctly less than one and one-half times in all of L. vigilax. This indicates that these two characters are not sufficient to separate Archilestes and Lestes , and species should not be excluded from either genus because of nonconformity. The new species regalis has been placed in Archilestes because of the proportions of the quadrangle and the similarity of the posterior hamules and abdominal appendages to those of A. gralzdis.

Figures

PLATE I Archilestes regalis, new species, holotype male FIGS1-. 2. Color pattern of the pterothorax. The intermediately shaded dark arcas of the uppcr part represent the metallic green color. FIGS.3-4. Basal part of front and hind wings. FIGS.5-6. Ventrolateral view of second abdominal segment showing position of posterior hamules and (Fig. 6) the right hamule greatly enlarged. FIGS.7-9. Abdominal appendages in dorsal, lateral, and ventral views. The drawings are by Miss Grace Eager, Museum artist.