Rapisma yanhuangi Yang, 1993

Liu, Xingyue, 2018, A review of the montane lacewing genus Rapisma McLachlan (Neuroptera, Ithonidae) from China, with description of two new species, Zoosystematics and Evolution 94 (1), pp. 57-71 : 64-67

Rapisma yanhuangi Yang, 1993 Figs 2, 3, 9, 10

Rapisma yanhuangi Yang, 1993: 147. Type locality: China (Sichuan: Chongqing).

Diagnosis.

Body and forewings generally greenish in both males and females. Head medially with dark markings on vertex, frons and clypeus. Antenna extremely short, less than 1/5 × forewing length. Male gonocoxites 9 paired, glabrous; each with a broad subtrapezoidal lobe and a slender, arcuately curved lateral arm; fused gonocoxites 11 generally arched, anteriorly with a broad, subtrapezoidal incision, posteriorly truncate, laterally acutely tapering in dorsal view; gonostyli 11 having dorsal lobe posterolaterally distinctly prominent, with a few short setae, and flat ventral lobe distally with a tuft of long setae.

Description.

Male. Body length 17.2-20.0 mm; forewing length 20.8-25.8 mm, hindwing length 18.4-22.1 mm.

Head nearly semiglobular, largely retracted under prothorax, barely visible in dorsal view. Head generally pale yellowish green; a narrow blackish stripe present around compound eye; a pair of transverse, ovoid, blackish brown markings present on vertex; several small brownish spots present along midline of frons and clypeus. Compound eyes dark brown; EI ratio 0.78. Antenna nearly moniliform, short, 4.7-4.9 mm long, with 23-26 flagellomeres; pale yellowish brown. Mandibles with tips black.

Thorax entirely greenish, meso- and metathorax slightly paler than prothorax, without any distinct markings. Legs pale yellowish brown, slightly darkened on apices of tibiae and all tarsomeres; pretarsal claws reddish brown, proximally slightly produced.

Forewing greenish, with some small grayish spots on distal half and along posterior margin, but these dark markings sometimes completely reduced. Trichosors absent. A proximal nygma present between RP+MA and MP, blackish, sometimes with a distinct black spot. RP with 6-9 pectinate branches. Hindwing much paler than forewing. A proximal nygma present between RP+MA and MP, blackish. RP with 6-7 pectinate branches.

Abdomen yellowish brown, with terga and genitalia greenish. Tergum 9 subtrapezoidal, with sparse short setae. Sternum 9 slightly shorter than tergum 9, about 2.5 times as wide as long, with slightly arcuate posterior margin. Ectoprocts slightly shorter and much narrower than tergum 9, ventrally divided into a pair of ovoid lobes; callus cerci present, slightly prominent. Gonocoxites 9 paired, glabrous; each with a broad subtrapezoidal lobe and a slender, arcuately curved lateral arm. Fused gonocoxites 11 generally arched, anteriorly with a broad, subtrapezoidal incision, posteriorly truncate, laterally acutely tapering in dorsal view. Gonostyli 11 with a pair of dorsal and a pair of ventral lobes; dorsal lobe posterolaterally distinctly prominent, with a few short setae; ventral lobe flat, distally with a tuft of long setae.

Female. Body length 18.0-20.0 mm; forewing length 27.0-27.3 mm, hindwing length 27.0-24.0 mm.

Body and forewings in general greenish. Head slightly darkened on vertex, with or without a dark spot on frons. Forewing without any dark marking.

Sternum 7 large, posteromedially with a narrow groove. Gonocoxites+gonapophyses 8 fused, nearly pentagonal, but divided by an arched transverse suture, notched distally, with a pair of digitiform projections and a weak median projection. Gonocoxites 9 nearly semicircular in lateral view, distally with tiny gonostyli 9; a pair of small setose ovoid gonapophyses 9 present posteriad gonocoxites 8 and beneath gonocoxites 9. Ectoprocts ovoid in lateral view.

Materials examined.

Holotype female, China, Sichuan, Chongqing [= Chongzhou, ca. 30°37.29'N, 103°40.13'E], 31.V.1954, Hechang Liu (IZCAS). 4 male 1 female, China, Sichuan, Shimian, Liziping Nature Reserve, Gongyihai Station [29°05.35'N, 102°20.11'E], 2100 m, 22-25.VII.2007, Liu, Zhang, Zhou & Bi (SEMCAS).

Distribution.

China (Sichuan).

Remarks.

This species was originally described based on a single female specimen ( Yang 1993). As the new materials, particularly the female, show almost same characteristics to the holotype female, I identified them to be R. yanhuangi . Nevertheless, further confirmation on the present identification should be considered if male specimens from the type locality are found in the future. The new materials of R. yanhuangi were collected by light trap. Among the male specimens the greenish forewings possess a few grayish spots or lack any dark spots, while the median dark spot on frons is present in the holotype female but absent in another female of the new materials. It suggests that identification of Rapisma species based solely on head and wing markings must be cautious as these characters are variable among conspecific individuals in some species.