Protoneura corculum Calvert, 1907

Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W., 2017, A synopsis of the Neotropical genus Protoneura (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), Zootaxa 4361 (1), pp. 1-76 : 22-23

Protoneura corculum Calvert, 1907

Figs. 8 (♂ habitus), 32 (♀ habitus), 54 (♀ mes. plate), 78 (gen. lig.), 104 (♂ app.), 121 (map)

Protoneura corculum Calvert, 1907: 395 –397, pl. 10, Figs. 41–44 (in key, description of ♂ ♀, illustrations of ♂ S10, base of wing, and ♀ pronotum and mesostigmal plates);— Williamson (1915: 619, 623, Figs. 2, 13, 14; discussion of relationships, in key, illustration of wings and thoracic pattern);— Alayo (1968a, b: 74, 75, Figs. 23B, 39B, 42I, 42J; key to Cuban species, illustrations of ♂ wings, head, thorax, and S10);— Paulson (1982: 252, 260; Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba);— Measey (1994: 45; Belize);— Boomsma & Dunkle (1996: 25; Belize);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (1996: 162; Mexico);— Trapero-Quintana & Naranjo-López (2003: 27; Cuba);—Trapero-Quintana & Naranjo-López (2004: 180; in key for Cuba);— Westfall & May (2006: 431–433, 438, 439, Figs. 223A, 224C, 226C; in key to northern representatives of genus, characterization of adults, illustrations of ♂ thorax and S10, ♀ pronotum and mesostigmal plates);— Garrison et al. (2003: 20; type information);— Pessacq (2008: 527; in phylogenetic analysis);— Trapero-Quintana & Torres-Cambas (2008: 26; Cuba);— Garrison et al. (2010: 379, 381, Figs. 2510, 2511, 2514; illustrations ♂ genital ligula and S10);— González-Soriano et al. (2011: 184; Mexico);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (2011: 2, Appendix VIII.21.2; Mexico);— Meurgey (2013: 300, 305; distribution).

Primary types. Holotype ♂. Guatemala: Livingston , 18 ii 1905, E. B. Williamson leg. [ UMMZ].

Specimens examined. 17 ♂ 19 ♀: MEXICO, Yucatan State : 1 ♂, Xlacah Cenote, Merida {21°5' N, 89°35' W, 6 m}, 22 vii 1932, E.P. Creaser leg. [ UMMZ] ; Veracruz State: 8 ♂ 11 ♀ (six pairs in tandem), Caldera Lake , near Motel Playa Azul and Laguna Catemaco (18°25'34'' N, 95°5'41'' W, 349 m), 18– viii 1976, R.W. Garrison & J.A. Garrison leg. [RWG] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), same data but [ CSCA] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), same data but [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), same data but [ UMMZ] ; 1 ♂, vicinity of Lagunas Azul and Emilia, Los Tuxtlas Biological Station , about 30 km NE of Catemaco (18°25'12'' N, 95°6'36'' W, 600 m), 7–14 viii 1982, R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG] ; 2 ♂ 1 ♀, Laguna del Cacahuateno, Los Tuxtlas {18°24'41'' N, 95°7'51'' W, 508 m}, 3 viii 1978, E. González leg. [ FSCA]. BELIZE, Cayo Dist. : 1 ♂, stream on W highway at Unitedville School, 30 v 1993, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; Toledo Dist.: 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), San Antonio, about 5 m W of Southern highway junction, borrow pits , 2 mi N of Bladen River {16°14' N, 89°1'W, 124 m}, 8 vi 1993, S.W. Dunkle leg. [RWG] ; 1 ♀, Piedra Lagoon, 0.9 mi S of junction Southern Highway and Punta Gorda road {16°6' N, 88°47' W], 7 vi 1993, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA]. GUATEMALA, El Petén Dept. : 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in copula), Aguada, Tikal {17°13' N, 89°36' W, 194m}, 29 vii 1963, T.W. Donnelly leg. [ FSCA] ; 1 ♀, E of Laguna Perdida {17°3' N, 90°13' W, 74 m}, 19 vii 1970, J.T. MacLean leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, Flores, 24–30 vi 1980, W. Brehme leg. [FSCA]; Izabal Dept.: 1 ♂ (paratype), Livingston {15°50' N, 88°45' W}, 18 ii 1905, E.B. Williamson leg. [ UMMZ] ; 2 ♂, Morales {15°29' N, 88°49' W, 40 m}, 27 v 1909, E.B. Williamson leg. [UMMZ].

Characterization. Male: Epicranium black with metallic copper and green reflections, thorax dorsum black and orange, dorsum of S1–2, distal portion of S3–5, and S6–10 black; pale colors orange and yellow ( Fig. 8). Pronotum black with anterior and lateral margins orange. Mesepisternum orange with middorsal carina and dorsal margin black; mesepimeron black with small orange spot on anterodorsal corner; metepisternum yellow with distal 1/4 black, with an orange spot on anterodorsal corner; metepimeron entirely yellow. Coxa, trochanter, and basal half of femur yellow; remainder of femur brown; tibia and tarsi yellow with brown margins; tibial spurs shorter than twice intervening spaces. Genital ligula lacking lateral lobes and with a straight distal margin, with margins of distal segment spiculate, and laterodistal corners projected anteroventrally ( Fig. 78). Cercus shorter than S10 length, shorter than half of paraproct’s length, about as long as wide, with a depression on external lateral surface ( Fig. 104a); medial surface with a small blunt ventrobasal and a rounded mediobasal tooth; tip slightly bifid, with a stronger outer tooth and a lower blunt medial tooth, visible in dorsal and mediodorsal views ( Figs. 104b, c). Paraproct about twice as long as S10 length, at midlength narrowing to half its basal width and with medial surface concave ( Fig. 104a). TL 35–38; Hw 16–18.

Female: As male but pale colors yellow; mesepisternum black with narrow yellow antehumeral stripe extending along basal 1/2; mesepimeron with narrow yellow humeral stripe along distal 1/2; S1–10 black dorsally, S3–7 with narrow yellow basal ring; pale lateral area of S9 extended medioposteriorly to about 1/2 of segment height ( Fig. 32). Middle lobe of pronotum lacking pronounced lateral depressions; posterior lobe entire, smoothly convex, directed posterodorsally (Fig. 54c). Mesostigmal plate upright and foliate, adjacent at posteromedial corner with a transverse tubercle on mesepisternum (Figs. 54a, b); no depressions behind mesostigmal plates. TL 31.5–34.5; Hw 17.5–19.5.

Diagnosis. Protoneura corculum and P. paucinervis can be distinguished from all congeners by male paraproct longer than twice cercus length ( Figs. 104a; 109a) and female upright foliaceous mesostigmal plate with medial corner adjacent to a transverse tubercle on mesepisternum (Figs. 54a, b; 59a, c). Male of P. corculum differs from P. paucinervis by orange color of mesepisternum ( Fig. 8; yellow in P. paucinervis , Fig. 13), and by blunt ventrobasal and mediobasal cercus teeth (104b, c; pointed in P. paucinervis , Fig. 109b). Female differs by black on metepisternum against metepisternal-metepimeral suture extending along distal 1/4 of suture in P. corculum ( Fig. 32; along distal 3/ 4 in P. paucinervis , Fig. 37), and by sides of posterior lobe of pronotum smoothly convex in P. corculum (Fig. 54c; straight in P. paucinervis , Fig. 59b).

Remarks. Calvert (1907) was unsure of the pale colors of the male when describing this species. He stated that the thorax was mostly pale blue but this was in error most likely due to postmortem effects.

Habitat and biology. Adults found at lagoons, cenotes (DRP, RWG), and open slow moving rivers surrounded by forest ( Measey 1994), where tandem pairs hover over water’s surface near edge of shore (R. W. Garrison pers. obs.). Pairs oviposit on floating stems in usual Protoneura fashion, with female abdomen bent at approximately a right angle in two places so the posterior part of S6 can be held against S2 between the wings, stabilizing it, presumably an adaptation to the long, slender abdomen in this genus (D. R. Paulson pers. comm.).

Distribution. Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Cuba ( Fig. 121).