Paraphlebia chaak Ortega-Salas & González-Soriano, 2022

Ortega-Salas, Héctor, González-Soriano, Enrique & Jocque, Merlijn, 2022, Untangling the waterfall damsels: a review of the Mesoamerican genus Paraphlebia Selys in Hagen, 1861 (Odonata: Thaumatoneuridae) with descriptions of 11 new species, Zootaxa 5089 (1), pp. 1-66 : 8-9

Paraphlebia chaak Ortega-Salas & González-Soriano sp. nov.

Figs. 3 (head ♂), 15 (thorax ♂), 35 (abdomen ♂), 38 (wings ♂), 72, 97 (appendages ♂), 113 (posterior lobe of prothorax ♂), 150 (map), 152 (habitus ♂).

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:41B4AFF3-07F0-4D15-8EA0-77BE72CC3A99

Holotype GUATEMALA • 1 ♂; Suchitepequez, Chicacao, Barranca a 50 m de la carretera hacia Chicacao , km 155; 14.542°N, 91.287°W; 660 m; 25 Jul 2018; H. Ortega-Salas leg.; IBUNAM; IBUNAM: CNIN:OD23094 .

Paratypes. GUATEMALA • 2 ♂♂; Suchitepequez, Chicacao, Barranca a 50 m de la carretera hacia Chicacao , km 155; 14.542°N, 91.287°W; 660 m; 25 Jul 2018; H. Ortega-Salas leg.; IBUNAM; IBUNAM: CNIN:OD23092 to 23093 • same data but 5 ♂♂; Santa Bárbara, Finca Mocá Grande , reservoir for finca; [14.533°N, 91.250°W]; 800 m; 9 Jul 1977; M.J. Westfall Jr. leg.; FSCA; IBUNAM: CNIN: OD23119 to 23121 , 23125 to 23126 • same data but 3 ♂♂; reservoir stream near Laguna ; 800 m; 12 Jul 1977; IBUNAM: CNIN:OD 23127 to 23129 • same data but 3 ♂♂; stream in coffe nursery; 7 Jul 1977; IBUNAM: CNIN:OD 23122 to 23124 .

Etymology. Named chaak /ʈʃɑːk/ (L. noun in apposition), after Chaak (also Chac, Chaahk or Chak), the Mayan God of rain, lightning and thunder. Paraphlebia typically occur in high-rainfall regions.

Description of holotype

Head. Chiefly black, labrum dark glossy blue, postclypeus pale blue, frons pale blue, vertex with pale spots laterad to lateral ocelli, occiput with pale occipital bar restricted to lateral edges, eyes dark brown to black, black in life; antennae scape pale, pedicel and flagellum pale.

Thorax. Prothorax: chiefly black, anterior lobe with pale spots on anterior margin; middle lobe with pale dorsolateral spots; see Fig. 113 (paratype) for morphology. Pterothorax: chiefly black with diffuse green metallic reflections over dark colouration on mesepisternum and mesepimeron; see Fig. 15 (paratype) for colour; sternum pale; legs pale, femora pale to light brown with black marking on extensor surface; tibiae light brown with black marking on extensor surface; tarsi reddish; claws reddish.

Wings. Hyaline, with a slight amber tint; FW with 0.8/0.9 post-quadrangular cells, the vein that descends from the subnodus slightly proximal to the first Vx; HW field between CuA and posterior margin lacking supplementary veins, CuA in HW not forked. Px: FW 35/31, HW 26/29.

Abdomen. Chiefly black; S1 with pale lateral spot; S2 with pale ventrolateral horizontal lines; S3–7 with pale basal rings, not closing dorsally in S3; S9–10 and cerci pruinose on dorsum.

Caudal appendages. Cerci: see Fig. 72 for morphology. Paraprocts: well-developed, clearly forked at apex, armed with well-defined upper and lower branches subequal in length.

Measurements. Abdomen: 37.3, FW: 31, HW: 30.

Variation in males. In specimens from Chicacao the pale colouration on metepisternum and metepimeron is more extensive. Some individuals with the vein that descends from the nodus at or distal to the first Vx but always closer to the first than to the second post-quadrangular Vx. HW field between CuA and posterior margin usually lacking supplementary veins; at most with two or three double cells in one wing. CuA in HW usually not forked but in some individuals with one supplementary sector.

Measurements. Abdomen: 35–39, FW: 29.5–32, HW: 28.6–31, Px: FW 28–37, Px: HW 23–32.

Description of female. Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Paraphlebia chaak is easily distinguishable from all other species by the shape of its cerci. Unique characters of this species are the convexity on the mesal margin of the mediodorsal flange distal to halfway of its length combined with the narrow base of the distal lobe, in dorsal view its cross-section of about one-third of the mediodorsal flange width ( Fig. 72a ).

Natural history. Small shaded creeks and seepages in cloud forests. Known from coffee plantations growing in remnants of primary forest.

Distribution. Southcentral Guatemala: known from the southern and southwestern slopes of Volcán Atitlán in Suchitepequez Department from 660– 800 m.a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURES 2–11. Paraphlebia spp. colour pattern of head, frontal view.

FIGURES 105–116. Paraphlebia spp. posterior lobe of prothorax frontal view (105–107); dorsal view (108–116).

FIGURES 12–19. Paraphlebia spp. colour pattern of head and thorax. Head frontal view (12–19); thorax lateral view (14– 19).

FIGURES 67–72. Paraphlebia spp. caudal appendages. (a) dorsal view; (b) mediodorsal view. W – maximum width of mediodorsal flange, w – maximum width of the distal lobe.