Protonemura datongensis, Li, Weihai, Murányi, Dávid & Yang, Ding, 2017

Li, Weihai, Murányi, Dávid & Yang, Ding, 2017, Two new species of Protonemura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from China, with biogeographical notes on the genus, Zootaxa 4258 (1) : -

Protonemura datongensis sp. n.

( Figs. 3–4 )

Type material. Holotype ( HIST) male: CHINA: Qinghai Province, Datong County, Jin’e Mountain (also called Niangniang Mountain ), 3900-4000 m a.s.l., 14.VIII.2015, leg. Weihai Li . Paratypes, 1 male (CAU), 2 females ( HIST & HNHM), same data as holotype.

Description. Forewing length 6.4–6.5 mm in males, 7.5–7.7 mm in females. Head dark brown to black; palpi and antennae dark brown. Pronotum dark brown, lateral margins slightly lighter, trapezoid with obtuse anterolateral corners, slightly wider than long. Legs generally brownish to brown, distal half of femora darker; tibae generally brownish; tarsi brown; wings brownish but dotted with irregular pale markings, veins dark brown. Abdomen brown with terminal segments darker.

Male terminalia ( Figs. 3 , 4 c- 4i): Hypoproct about one third of the width of sternum 9, mostly dark brown with many hairs, basally wide and long apical projection tapering with slightly upcurved, nipple-lile tip; vesicle claviform, more than 2X longer than wide, without mesal constriction. Paraproct inner lobe slender but widened subapically, only half as long as median or outer lobe, tip acute without distal setation. Median lobe strongly sclerotized, basal one third wide and subquadrate, then abruptly narrowing in an elongate strong spine, apex curved upward and outward, with a single, small and stout apical spine. Outer lobe sclerotized, basal one third fused with median lobe; separated apical two thirds very slender like blade shaped projection of median lobe, armed with three moderate sharp apical spines. Cerci cylindrical, more than 1.5X longer than wide, tip blunt. Tergum VIII brown, with a row of small posteriomedial spines. Tergum IX mostly sclerotized with median portion less so, with a shallow triangular posteromedial indentation, along posterior margin covered with 2-3 irregular rows of small spines. Tergum X well sclerotized, medial concavity of the segment under epiproct membranous with several tiny spines located at anterolateral margin. Epiproct long and recurved, evenly enlarged from base to the widest apical fourth, then tapering to apex in dorsal view, apex with triangular notch and median portion with a short, slightly bifid terminal filament seen in dorsal, ventral and lateral views. Dorsal sclerite basally with a strong, entire trapezoid base; lateral sclerite running laterally along lateral margins of epiproct in dorsal view and slightly curved. Ventral sclerite subapical portion with prominent, backcurved ridge, bearing a dense row of compressed sharp spines, apex extended beyond dorsal sclerite forming the apical flagellum.

Female ( Figs. 3 g, 4f-fi): Pregenital plate of sternum VII slightly produced and elevated. Subgenital plate large and trapezoidal, basal half hidden beneath the pregenital plate; two large triangular vaginal lobes are attached to its posterolateral corners; the corners are overhanging the vaginal lobes in lateral view. Sternite IX dark brown and elevated in lateral view. Paraprocts with rounded tip, cerci simple. Inner genitalia: a pair of sloping quadrate median sclerites that extends anteriorly and posteriorly in triangular membrane clearly seen via cuticular, positioned between the posterior edge of the pregenital plate and subgenital plate; an open elliptical sclerite lies between the anterior extreme of inner part of subgenital plate under sternum VII, membranous pocket-like structure linked with the dark median sclerites.

Larva: unknown.

Affinities. The new species seems not related to any regional Chinese species and the Oriental Region, or to Russian, Korean or Japanese species ( Shimizu 1998, Zhiltzova 2003). It seems allied to the P. corsicana species group sensu Vinçon & Murányi (2009) by the short bifurcate terminal filament of epiproct, but the male can be easily separated from the West Palaearctic species by the unique, slender outer paraproct lobe and the distinct epiproctal ventral ridge. The trapezoidal subgenital plate of the female is also distinctive.

Etymology. The species is named after the County Datong where the type locality is.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Protonemura datongensis sp. n. a-f, male. a. Terminalia, dorsal view; b. Terminalia, ventral view; c. Terminalia, lateral view; d. Epiproct, dorsal view. e. Epiproct, lateral view; f. Paraproct, caudal view. g. Female terminalia, ventral view.

FIGURE 4. Protonemura datongensis sp. n. a. Adult male, dorsal view; b. Adult female, dorsal view; c. Epiproct, dorsal view; d. Epiproct flagella, anterior view. e. Epiproct, lateral view; f. Genital plates, ventral view. g. Female terminalia, ventral view, slightly oblique. i. Female terminalia, lateral view.