Protonemura neofiligera, Sivec & Stark, 2009

Sivec, Ignac & Stark, Bill P., 2009, Two New Protonemura Species From Vietnam (Plecoptera: Nemouridae), Illiesia 5 (21), pp. 204-207 : 205-207

Protonemura neofiligera sp. n.

( Figs. 6-10 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ and female ♀ from 12 km along road from Sapa to Lai Chau , 1950 m, 22° 20.58’ N, 103° 40.15’ E, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, 1-12 May 1999, ROM 992012 , B. Hubley ( ROM).

Adult habitus. General color dark brown. Head dark brown, antennae brown. Pronotum brown but paler along lateral margins. Fore femora uniformly brown, mid femora with obscure pale mesal band, hind femora distinctly banded at midlength; hind tibiae dark in distal half. Wings dark brown. Gills fingerlike, plump; outer gill branched near base, inner gill single.

Male. Forewing length 8.5 mm. Abdominal tergum 9 membranous in mesal third and bearing a few scattered sensilla basiconica along margins of membranous area ( Fig. 6 ); tergum 8 unmodified. Epiproct slightly broader at base than tip, apex notched and bearing a short, dextrally curved filament-like process protruding from internal sheath ( Figs. 6, 9 ); ventrolateral aspect of epiproct with a double row of small spines; slightly bulbous, dorsolateral, membranous zone covered with fine scale-like structures visible in lateral aspect ( Fig. 9 ). Inner lobe of paraprocts partially divided from tip by thin dark line ( Fig. 8 ); mesal lobe larger than others and bearing a terminal, setose knob-like dorsal structure and an acute sclerotized ventroapical point; outer lobe small but sclerotized, and lying along outer margin of mesal lobe. Vesicle about twice as long as wide, sclerotized near base but membranous over most of length ( Fig. 7 ); hypoproct apex somewhat hastate ( Fig. 7 ).

Female. Forewing 8.5 mm. Pregenital plate on sternum 7 overlapping base of sternum 8 ( Fig. 10 ); subgenital plate on sternum 8 truncate or slightly rounded and not reaching posterior margin of segment.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name represents an emendation of Kawai’s (1969) species name filigera and several of Aubert’s (1967) species names (e.g. brachyfiligera , metafiligera , parafiligera , pseudofiligera ) originally proposed as species of Protonemura , but placed in Mesonemoura by Baumann (1975).

Diagnosis. The epiproct and paraproct structures are very different for the three southeast Asian Protonemura species. Protonemura filigera Kawai , the species known from Thailand, has an odd, posteriorly directed dorsal filament and a pair of small comb- shaped subapical structures on the epiproct ( Kawai 1969) that neither of the Vietnamese species possess. The two Vietnamese species are quite different in paraproct structure with P. fansipanensis having several stout setal-like spines on the large outer lobe ( Fig. 4 ), whereas in P. neofiligera the outer lobe is small and the larger mesal lobe has only setae on the tips ( Fig. 8 ). In addition, the epiproct of P. neofiligera has a prominent, anteriorly directed, apical filament ( Figs. 6, 9 ) which is absent in P. fansipanensis . Females of the two new species are distinguished on the basis of the pregenital plate on sternum 7, present in P. neofiligera ( Fig. 10 ) and absent in P. fansipanensis ( Fig. 5 ).

Figures

Figs. 6-10. Protonemura neofiligera. 6. Male terminalia, dorsal. 7. Male hypoproct and vesicle, ventral. 8. Male left paraproct, ventrocaudal. 9. Male terminalia, lateral. 10. Female sterna 7-9, ventral.

Figs. 1-5. Protonemura fansipanensis. 1. Male terminalia, dorsal. 2. Male terminalia, ventral. 3. Male terminalia, lateral. 4. Male paraprocts. 5. Female terminalia, ventral.