Neochauliodes indicus

Liu, Xingyue, Hayashi, Fumio & Yang, Ding, 2010, Revision of the fishfly genus Neochauliodes van der Weele (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) from India and adjacent regions of South Asia, Zootaxa 2692, pp. 33-50 : 37-39

Neochauliodes indicus (van der Weele, 1907)

( Figures 2 , 13–17 )

Chauliodes indicus van der Weele, 1907: 255. Type locality: India (Assam, Darjeeling, Sikkim).

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by hyaline wings with large spots flanking the pterostigmata and large, coalescent brown blotches residing in the proximal costal cellules ( Fig. 2 ). Males may also be distinguished by the ninth tergum being widened in lateral view, by the tenth tergum being angulate posteromedially ( Figs. 13, 14 ), and by the male tenth sternum with the lateral arms fused to the median plate without protrusions.

Male. Body length 15–24 mm; forewing length 33–39 mm, hindwing length 29–35 mm.

Head dark, with anterior margin of clypeus yellow ( Fig. 2 ). Compound eyes grayish brown, ocelli yellow, medially margined black. Antennae dark. Mouthparts yellow, tip of mandibles reddish brown.

Thorax dark; meso- and metanota medially yellowish brown. Legs yellowish brown with short dense yellowish setae; tibiae and tarsi brown, tarsal claws reddish brown. Wings ( Fig. 2 ) hyaline with brownish markings; pterostigmatic area short and whitish. Forewing with brownish stripes in costal cellules of proximal half of costal area, and respectively with a long and a short stripes beside pterostigmatic area; proximally with a few small brownish spots, distal half almost pale brown due to fusion of markings. Hindwing similarly patterned, but only with a few indistinct brownish markings distad, leaving anal area immaculate. Veins yellowish brown except for veins in brownish markings much darker. Rs six to eight-branched, smoothly directed and slightly curved posteriad; three crossveins between R1 and Rs.

Abdomen dark. Ninth tergum broadened ventrad in lateral view ( Figs 13, 15 ), leaving sinuate posterior margin in lateral view. Tenth tergum ( Figs 14–15 ) in lateral view subquadrate, with posterodorsal and posteroventral corners distinctly produced, leaving arcuately concaved posterior margin; in dorsal view posteromedial surface angulate, its medial surface bearing rows of brushy setae. Tenth sternum ( Figs 14–15 ) strongly sclerotized, lateral arms nearly semicircular, fused with median plate by no narrow protrusions, bearing a few short setae; median plate subtrapezoidal and narrowly elongate in ventral view, lateral portions slightly elevated ventrad and anteriorly produced, leaving a pair of subtriangular lobes; median plate in lateral view with posterior half strongly narrowed and curved dorsad.

Female. Body length 20–27 mm; forewing length 38–44 mm, hindwing length 35–40 mm.

Eighth sternum ( Figs 16–17 ) subtrapezoidal in lateral view, with roundly convex posterior margin in ventral view. Tenth tergum ( Fig. 16 ) short and stout, posterodorsal corners distinctly pointed in lateral view. Ninth gonocoxite ( Fig. 16 ) slightly shorter than tenth tergum, subtriangular, with a prominent tip.

Type material. Lectotype Ψ (present designation), INDIA: “Sikkim [ca. 88°28'E, 27°17'N]/co-Type/ Chauliodes indicus Type v[an]d[er]W[eele]” (MFN). Paralectotypes: 1ɗ (present designation), INDIA: “Darjeeling [88°16'E, 27°02'N], Juni, Fruhstorfer leg./co-Type/ Chauliodes indicus Type v[an]d[er]W[eele]” (MFN); 1Ψ (present designation), INDIA: “ ASSAM [no precise locality]/Coll. v.d. Weele leg. 1907 No.6/ Chauliodes indicus Type v[an]d[er]W[eele]” ( RMNH).

Additional material. BHUTAN: 1Ψ, [no precise locality] 1898, R. Oberthur ( MNHN); INDIA: 1Ψ, West Bengal, Darjeeling, Atkinson ( IRSNB); 1Ψ, West Bengal, Darjeeling (NHM); 1Ψ, West Bengal, Kurseong [88°16'E, 26°52'N], 1962 ( IRSNB); 1ɗ, West Bengal, Darjeeling, Gopaldhara [88°24'E, 26°44'N], Rungbong Vall., H. Stevens (NHM); 4ɗ3Ψ, West Bengal, Darjeeling, Gopaldhara (NHM); 1ɗ1Ψ, West Bengal, Darjeeling, Gopaldhara, 18.VII.1914, H. Stevens (NHM).

Distribution. India (Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal); Bhutan.

Remarks. This species seems closely related to N. nepalensis based on the similar male genitalia; however, it can be distinguished from N. nepalensis by the cloudily patterned forewings, which possess broad brownish stripes on proximal costal cellules, and by the male tenth tergum with angulately produced inner portion. In N. nepalensis the forewings are distinctly marked by numerous small spots, which are much darker on proximal costal cellules, and the inner portion of the male tenth tergum is roundly inflated.

The syntypes of N. indicus include one male and two female specimens, but the genitalia of the male specimen are lost. Therefore, we herein designate one female specimen in MFN as the lectotype, and subsequently the male and the other female specimens as the paralectotypes.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Habitus images of Neochauliodes spp. 1. N. fletcheri Kimmins, holotype male; 2. N. indicus (van der Weele), paralectotype male; 3. N. nepalensis sp. nov., holotype male; 4. N. obscurus van der Weele, holotype female; 5. N. simplex (Walker), lectotype male; 6. N. subfasciatus (Westwood), lectotype male; 7. N. truncatus Kimmins, holotype male. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.

FIGURES 13 – 17. Neochauliodes indicus (van der Weele). 13. Male genitalia, dorsal view; 14. Male genitalia, ventral view; 15. Male genitalia, lateral view; 16. Female genitalia, lateral view; 17. Female eighth sternum, ventral view. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.