Neoperla quadrata Wu & Claassen, 1934

Murányi, Dávid, Li, Weihai, Jeon, Mi Jeong, Hwang, Jeong Mi & Seo, Hong Yul, 2015, Korean species of the genus Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) *, Zootaxa 3918 (1), pp. 113-127 : 122

Neoperla quadrata Wu & Claassen, 1934

( Figs. 34–37 , 41–42 )

Type locality: China, Szechuan, Tatsienlu, 8000–9000 feet (Sichuan Province, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Kangding County, Lucheng, N30° E102°).

Neoperla quadrata Wu & Claassen, 1934 — Wu & Claassen 1934: 124. (original description of the male); Wu 1938: 117 (monography, with further details of the aedeagus); Claassen 1940: 165. (catalog); Kimmins 1950: 195. (first record from India, Meghalaya State); Illies 1966: 276 (catalog); Zwick 1973a: 153. (first records from North Korea, notes about variability of males); Yoon & Aw 1985: 125. (first records from South Korea, description of the larva); DeWalt et al. 2014 (catalog).

Literature data. Zwick (1973a): North Korea, Mjohjang-san Mts. (North Pyongan Province, Hyangsan-gun, Myohyang Mts), 5.VIII.1959, leg. B. Pisarski, J. Proszyński: 1♂; North Korea, Jongsǒng (North Hamgyong Province, Kyongsong County), 01.VI.1954, leg. H.R. Bullock: 1♂.

Yoon & Aw (1985): South Korea, Kangwon-do, Wonsǒng, Ch’iaksan (Gangwon Province, Wonju City, Chiak Mts), 31.VII.–01.VIII.1975: larvae; South Korea, Kyǒnggi-do, Kap’yǒng, Chojongch’ǒn (Gyeonggi Province, Gapyeong County), 27.V.1973, 29.IV.1983: larvae; South Korea, Ch’ungchǒngbuk-do, Okch’ǒn (North Chungcheong Province, Okcheon County), 09.IV.1972: larvae.

Material examined. CHINA: Szechuan, Tatsienlu, 8000–9000 feet (Sichuan Province, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Kangding County, Lucheng, N30° E102°), 16.VIII.1930, leg. D.C. Graham: holotype ♂ and paratype ♂ ( USNM).

Complementary description. Aedeagus ( Figs. 34–37 ): The aedeagal tube plump, with a triangular dorsobasal sclerite, a ventrobasal hump and two large, spherical ventroapical lobes. The ventroapical lobes close set but not touching each other ventrally, and bearing large spines on most of their surface, while anteriorly without spines. Tube mostly bald other than spines on ventroapical lobes. The everted aedeagal sac curved dorsad, hardly longer than the tube. Sac covered with fine spinules from the basal ⅓ up to the apex, and bearing three fields of larger spines: a basodorsal, triangular field of moderately large spines, a longitudinal ventral row of large spines that reach to the apex from the basal ⅓, and a large, spherical dorsal patch of strong spines on the bulging subapical section. The apex is slightly separated, straight and without spines.

Remarks. Habitus, terminalia and uneverted aedeagus of this species are similar to several other Asian Neoperla . Details of the aedeagal sac have not been previously studied. The aedeagus of the holotype and paratype are not everted. The paratype is not conspecific with the holotype and most probably belongs to an unnamed species; thus, our description refers only to the holotype. It is closely related to certain other species of the montivaga group, lushana subgroup, especially to N. lushana Wu, 1935 , N. signatalis Banks, 1937 and N. xuoansongae Li & Li, 2013 (in Li et al. 2013). N. quadrata differs from all those species by the combination of ventral row and spherical dorsal patch of strong spines on the aedeagal sac. Literature data from Korea ( Zwick 1973a, Yoon & Aw 1985) and India ( Kimmins 1950) are in need of validation. Unfortunately, the North Korean male specimens deposited in the Polish Academy of Sciences was not available for study (Tomas Huflejt pers. com.). Therefore, all records from South Korea were based on larvae.

Distribution and ecology. The species was described from Sichuan Province of China, later it was reported from Meghalaya State of India and from both North and South Korea. If the Indian and Korean data are correct, this species can be regarded as one of the most widely distributed Asian Neoperla ( Figs. 41–42 ).

Figures

FIGURES 34 – 37. Holotype of Neoperla quadrata Wu & Claassen, 1934; China, Sichuan Province, Lucheng — 34: aedeagal sac, lateral view; 35: aedeagal sac, ventral view; 36: aedeagal sac, dorsal view; 37: aedeagus, lateral view—not to scale.

FIGURES 41 – 42. Distribution of the Neoperla Needham, 1905 species known from Korea — 41: known occurrences in North and South Korea; 42: known range of N. quadrata Wu & Claassen, 1934 and N. ussurica Sivec & Zhiltzova, 1996.