Protosticta curiosa Fraser, 1934

Kompier, Tom, 2018, Protosticta curiosa Fraser, 1934 and its synonyms in Vietnam and China (Odonata: Platystictidae), Zootaxa 4434 (2), pp. 373-376 : 373-375

Protosticta curiosa Fraser, 1934

syn. Protosticta zhengi Yu & Bu, 2009 syn. nov.

syn. Protosticta albifrons Kompier, 2016 syn. nov.

Protosticta curiosa: Fraser (1934) , pp. 134–135, Fig. 1 , Type locality: Lower Burma, East Mergui (present day southeastern Myanmar); Asahina (1981), p. 3, several locations from western Thailand; Asahina (1984), pp. 586–588, Figs. 1–7 , several locations from western Thailand; Asahina (1990) p. 5, Nakha and Khlong Nakha, south-western Thailand (species list); Day et al. (2012), p. 21, Petchaburi Prov., Thailand (species list); Dow (2009), (species account); Hoess (2002), p. 183, Chiang Mai, Thailand (species list); Hämäläinen & Pinratana (1999) p. 20 (species list), p. 60 (distribution map with records from north-western, western and south-western Thailand); Phan & Kompier (2016), p. 541, Figs. 9N-Q, Thailand (specimens from coll. Asahina): Wilson & Reels (2003), pp. 274–275, Fig. 113, Phuket, Thailand (short description of paraproct).

Protosticta albifrons: Kompier (2016) , pp. 350–352, Figs. 6 –9. Type locality: Xuan Son National Park , Phu Tho Prov., northern Vietnam (Includes description of female).

Protosticta zhengi: Yu & Bu (2009) , pp. 55–57, Figs. 10–15. Type locality: Xishuangbanna , Menghun, Yunnan, China.

The combination of the broad, deeply incised cerci and the slender, pointed paraprocts with a dorsal raised cup-like structure separates Protosticta curiosa from the many similar looking species in the P. curiosa -group of Protosticta species. However, this was not immediately apparent from the first illustrations of its appendages in Fraser (1934, p. 135, Fig. 1 ), which lacked sufficient richness of detail. Asahina (1984) provided more detailed drawings (1984, p. 587, Fig. 5 (dorso-lateral view) and Fig. 6 (lateral view)). Asahina’s Figure 6 is reproduced here as Figure 4 . Phan & Kompier (2016, p. 541, Fig. 9N) provided another drawing of the appendages of P. curiosa , based on Asahina’s specimens, reproduced here as Figure 5 . The drawing of the appendages provided in Yu & Bu (2009) of P. zhengi is reproduced here as Figure 7 . The photo of the appendages of P. albifrons from Kompier (2016, Fig. 7 ) is reproduced here as Figure 6 .

The likeness of the shape of the cerci of Protosticta albifrons , P. curiosa and P. zhengi is clear ( Figs. 4–7 ). Kompier (2016, p. 351) described them as: “cerci smoothly curved from broad base narrowing somewhat till just before halfway, then strongly curved downward, with broad and rounded dorsal tooth in lateral view, the posterior half of cerci complicated, broad in lateral view, flattened with ridges and incised apically to form three lobes that are partly folded over each other.”

The similarity of the paraprocts of these three species is not as evident. Figure 5 does not clearly show a raised cuplike structure, but seems to show a cavity in the paraproct, much like similar structures in species such as P. satoi Asahina, 1984 and P. socculus Phan & Kompier, 2016 . However, Phan & Kompier (2016, p. 541) write: “we have examined the types of P. curiosa from Thailand used by Asahina (1984) for a comparison with P. pseudocuriosa spec. nov. and confirmed the presence of a cup-like structure (…).” Wilson & Reels (2003) also described the paraproct of P. curiosa : “which is elongated beyond the cup-shaped socket (…).” From this it can be concluded that the depiction of the paraprocts in Phan & Kompier (2016) was not accurate. Figure 4 does show the raised cup-like structure, although this is only apparent when you know what to look for, because it looks like a knob in the drawing, rather than a raised cup-like structure, and Asahina (1984) does not mention it. Figure 7 also shows the raised cup-like structure as a knob, and Yu & Bu (2009) state only: “Caudal appendages black, cerci longer and more robust than paraprocts.” Only Figure 6 shows the shape of the paraprocts in reasonable detail, including a clear raised cup-like structure. Kompier (2016) additionally described the shape as: “Paraprocts with elongated tip, tapering, the apical half reminiscent of the hull of a kayak in lateral view, separated from proximal half by narrower neck, the kayak-shaped part at its base with a raised cup-like structure.”

The patterning of the prothorax is also a feature used to help identify Protosticta species. Asahina (1984) described the prothorax of P. curiosa as “pale brown with each one pair of dark spots on the anterior, median and posterior lobes, respectively,” and provided a clear drawing (p. 587, Fig. 1 ) that is reproduced here as Figure 2 . Yu & Bu (2009) described the prothorax of P. zhengi as: “pale yellow, with black marks.” and provided drawings (p. 57, Fig. 10—11) that showed that the anterior, median and posterior lobes all had a pair of dark markings (their Figure 11 is reproduced here as Figure 3 ). Kompier (2016) described the prothorax of P. albifrons as: “Pale yellow, anterior lobe with two oblong dark brown diffuse spots, lateral lobes with diffuse dark brown central spot and posterior lobe largely mottled with brownish, paler along the edges and along center line.” He goes on to say that the “diffuse pattern of the prothorax is (…) a good identification help.” A close-up of the prothorax on a live male P. albifrons is shown in Figure 1 . Figures 1–3 illustrate the similarity of the prothoracic pattern of the three involved species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Comparison of prothorax and appendages of Protosticta curiosa, P. albifrons syn. nov. and P. zhengi syn. nov.: (1) Protosticta albifrons ♂, close-up of prothorax showing typical pattern of dark markings, 1-VIII-2016, Xuan Son National Park, Phu Tho Prov., Vietnam, photo by T. Kompier; (2) P. curiosa ♂, prothorax, dorsal (after Asahina (1984, p. 587, Fig. 1)); (3) P. zhengi ♂, prothorax, dorsal (after Yu & Bu (2009, p. 57, Fig. 11)); (4) P. curiosa ♂, caudal appendages in lateral view (after Asahina (1984, p. 587, Fig. 6)); (5) P. curiosa ♂, caudal appendages in dorsolateral view (after Phan & Kompier (2016, p. 541, Fig. 9N)); (6) P. albifrons ♂, caudal appendages in lateral view (after Kompier (2016, p. 350, Fig. 7)); (7) P. zhengi ♂, caudal appendages in lateral view (after Yu & Bu (2009, p. 57, Fig. 15))