Cora verapax, Bota-Sierra & Sánchez-Herrera & Palacino-Rodríguez, 2018

Bota-Sierra, Cornelio Andrés, Sánchez-Herrera, Melissa & Palacino-Rodríguez, Fredy, 2018, Odonata from protected areas in Colombia with new records and description of Cora verapax sp. nov. (Zygoptera: Polythoridae), Zootaxa 4462 (1), pp. 115-131 : 122-124

Cora verapax sp. nov.

( Fig. 4a–e )

Holotype. ♂ COLOMBIA. Risaralda Department: National Natural Park Tatamá, Pueblo RiCo MuniCipality, Monte Bello Township , Minas de Cuarzo stream, 5.22861°N 76.09806°W 1,480 m a.s.l., 13 July 2016, C. Bota, D. Ayala, F. GarCía & A. Orejuela leg. ( CEUA 99826 ).

Etymology. This name (f., noun in apposition) Comes from the Latin words, verus, meaning true and pax meaning peaCe. It reCalls the Claim of the Colombian people for the end of the longest Civil war, whiCh has devastated the Country for deCades (i.e. 63 years). Moreover, it expresses the ConCern of the soCiety with the preservation of natural resourCes that were unreaChable and threatened due to this war in our territories; and Calls for our biggest hope: to aChieve a true state of peaCe.

Description of holotype. Head. Yellow, with greyish-yellow vertex, and two laterodorsal blaCk spots on labrum, posterior half of frons blaCk with two yellow spots behind lateral oCelli ( Fig. 4a ). Frons rounded.

Thorax. Prothorax: pronotum blue with middorsal blaCk stripe, posterior portion of median lobe blaCk, and posterior lobe blaCk margined blue ( Fig. 4a, e ); propleuron yellow ( Fig. 4a, e ). Pterothorax: blue with blaCk stripes in middorsal Carina, mesepisternum and antehumeral suture, the latter expanding at its proximal portion surrounding the mesoCoxae ( Fig. 4a, e ); thin blaCk lines between mesepimeron and metepimeron and in metapleural suture, this one gets wider towards the posterior margin and toward its proximal portion surrounding the metaCoxae ( Fig. 4a, e ); blaCk spot surrounding the metepimeral spiraCle. Venter gray with a tuberCle Close to abdomen base, posteriorly Covered with golden setae. Legs: Coxae grayish blue (Covered with pruinesCenCe when alive, Fig. 4a, e ), armature and legs blaCk ( Figs 4a, e ).

Wings. Membrane smoky Colored; venation and pterostigma blaCk; Px 39 in FW, 30–31 in HW; pt overlying six Cells; FW nodus Closer to the pterositgma (13.0mm) than to the base of wing (14.5mm).

Abdomen. BlaCk exCept dorsum of S1 and anterior 2/3 of S2 dorsum whiCh are blue ( Fig. 4a, e ). S10 has a middorsal horn on apex, pointed in dorsoposterior direCtion ( Fig 4 C–d ). Genital ligula with filamentous lateral lobes, small midlateral proCesses, and wide lateroapiCal projeCtions ( Fig. 4b ). CerCus tip Curving inwards in dorsal view ( Fig. 1C ), in lateral view almost straight with a midventral tooth ( Fig. 4d ). ParaproCts not developed. Measurements (mm). Total length 69.5, length of abdomen 57.1, FW 31.6 and HW 29.6 length.

Notes on the Cora genus and diagnosis. The last phylogenetiC analysis (SánChez-Herrera et al. 2018) showed the genus Cora as traditionally grouped is polyphyletiC in the light of the genetiC evidenCe. The cyane and inca groups proposed by BiCk & BiCk (1991) share several CharaCters but were separated beCause of the lateroapiCal projeCtions of the genital ligula observed in Cora inca (Selys, 1873) . SánChez-Herrera et al. (2018) support them as part of a Clade Called Cora s.s., grouping Cora jocosa (MCLaChlan, 1881), Cora cyane (Selys, 1853) , Cora marina Selys, 1868 , Cora irene Ris, 1918 , Cora xanthostoma Ris, 1918 and C. inca , a Clade morphologiCally supported by the plaCement of the FW nodus Closer to the pt than to the base of the wing, and the blue Coloration on dorsum of S2. Cora verapax shares the plaCement of its nodus and the blue Coloration on S2, with this Clade, whiCh Can be easily separated from the other speCies by the seCond segment of genital ligula, whiCh resembles C. inca , but the apiColateral projeCtions are wider, by its middorsal horn on apex of S10 pointing in dorsoposterior direCtion, unique among the Cora s.s. group. Cora verapax also has two unique CharaCteristiCs in the family Polythoridae , a ventral thoraCiC tuberCle, and the abdomen almost two times longer than wings, whiCh is unusual for the family, resembling speCies of other families as Perilestidae or some genera in Coenagrionidae (e.g., Mesoleptobasis Sjöstedt, 1918 ).

Distribution. The speCies is only known from its type loCality at National Natural Park Tatamá in the PaCifiC OCean slope of the Andean Cordillera OCCidental (Risaralda, Colombia).

Biology. The biology of this speCies remains a mystery, 13 months of sampling were aCCumulated from 2014 to 2017 in the type loCality and only one speCimen was observed and fortunately Caught, showing this is a very rare speCies. The only known speCimen was at a stream in a well-preserved Cloud mountain forest where this speCies probably inhabits in the high Canopy.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Colombian National System of Protected Areas (SINAP) including the register Civil Society Natural Reserves reported to the Ministry of Environment until 2015.

FIGURE 4. Cora verapax sp. nov. holotype: a. head and thorax in dorsal and lateral views respectively; b. genital ligula in ventral view; c. S10 and cercus in dorsal view; d. S9–10 and cercus in lateral view; e. habitus in lateral view. a-l. p.: apicolateral processes, f. l. l.: filamentous lateral lobes, m-l. p.: midlateral processes. Photos: a, c–e: CABS; b: Camilo Flórez.