Amphinemura bifurcata, Stark & Sivec, 2010

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2010, Eight New Species Of Amphinemura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) From Vietnam, Illiesia 6 (5), pp. 41-51 : 42

Amphinemura bifurcata sp. n.

( Figs. 1-3 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ from Vietnam, Lao Cai, Sapa, large waterfall on road from Sapa to Lai Chau, 7 May 1995, ROM 956015, D. Currie, B. Hubley, J. Swann ( ROM) . Paratypes: Vietnam: Lao Cai, Sapa, Fan Si Pan Mountains , 25-30 March 1995, W. Mey, 1♂ ( ZMB) . Lao Cai, Sapa , Okui-Ho, 1100 m, 24-25 March 1995, W. Mey, 2♂ ( ZMB) .

Adult habitus. General color pale brown. Head brown, without distinctive pattern. Pronotum with brown rugosities on pale disk. Wings transparent, veins pale amber. Legs pale brown.

Male. Forewing length 5.5-7 mm. Epiproct narrow at base and enlarged at midlength to form an apically bifid bulbous process; protruding from notch is an apically divided, slender fork-like process (the apparent extension of the ventral sclerite) which extends beyond the anterior margin of tergum 10 ( Fig. 1 ); lateral aspect of bulbous portion of epiproct apex without obvious spine row ( Fig. 3 ), but fine spicules occur along midventral margin of projecting mesal processes. Tergum 10 bears a sparse field of fine spinules beneath epiproct tip. Sclerite of tergum 9 strongly narrowed on midline and bearing a few long setae and patches of fine spinules. Paraproct inner lobe a short triangular sclerite ( Fig. 2 ), outer lobe an inconspicuous slender sclerite closely appressed to mesal lobe; mesal lobe broad at apex in caudal aspect, and subdivided into two small lobes, each bearing one or two strong bristles ( Fig. 2 ); in dorsal aspect, the apical section of paraproct mesal lobe bears a pair of apical bristles and a basal sclerotized thumb-like projection. Vesicle very slender.

Female. Unknown.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name refers to the forked epiproct apex.

Diagnosis. The epiproct of this species is generally similar to that of A. gressitti which Kawai (1969) described from a Dalat, Vietnam specimen. In our specimen of A. gressitti from Thua Thien-Hue Province, the projecting apical process appears as a single, upwardly curved hook-like structure, although Kawai (1969) shows it as a pair of closely appressed processes. In addition the lateral aspect of the bulbous portion of the epiproct of A. gressitti bears a short row of fine spines. The paraprocts of A. bifurcata and A. gressitti also differ (compare Figs. 2 and 14 ).

Figures

Figs. 1-6. Amphinemura bifurcata (1-3) and A. caoae (4-6). 1. Male terminalia, dorsal. 2. Paraproct, caudal aspect. 3. Male terminalia, lateral. 4. Male terminalia, dorsal. 5. Paraproct, caudal aspect 6. Male terminalia, lateral.

Figs. 13-18. Amphinemura gressitti (13-15) and A. meyi (16-18). 13. Male terminalia, dorsal. 14. Paraproct, caudal aspect 15. Male terminalia, lateral. 16. Male terminalia, dorsal. 17. Paraproct, caudal aspect. 18. Male terminalia, lateral.