Perlesta cranshawi, Kondratieff & Zuellig & Kirchner & Lenat, 2006

Kondratieff, Boris C., Zuellig, Robert E., Kirchner, Ralph F. & Lenat, David R., 2006, Three New Species Of Perlesta (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From Eastern North America And Notes On New State Records, Illiesia 2 (5), pp. 31-38 : 35-37

Perlesta cranshawi , sp. n.

Kondratieff and Kirchner ( Figs.16-24 ).

Material examined. Holotype ♂ and 20 ♂, 15 ♀ paratypes, VIRGINIA: Sussex Co., Nottoway River, Nottoway River Road, CR 651, N Emporia, N 36°50’49”, W 077°33’36”, 19 May 2004, B.C. Kondratieff, R.F. Kirchner, and R.E. Zuellig.

The holotype is deposited at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Paratypes will be deposited at the following museums and individual collections: Bill P. Stark, Clinton, Mississippi ( BPSC), and the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University ( CSUC).

Male. Forewing length 8 - 9 mm. General body color pale yellow. Head pale yellow except for brown quadrangular patch over ocelli, diffuse darker area anterior to patch; pronotal brown rugosites forming a distinctive pattern ( Fig. 16 ). Femora with dusky brown dorsal band. Wings hyaline, veins brown, costal margin pale. Tergum 10 mesal sclerite light brown, not divided, sensilla basiconica distinct but small, not elevated into patches ( Fig. 17 ). Paraproct short, with small subapical tooth ( Figs. 18- 19 ), not visible in caudal view ( Fig. 20 ); in lateral view, paraproct appearing narrow ( Fig. 18 ). Penis tube + sac long, caecum prominent, 2x as wide as long, lateral sclerite not prominent, dorsal patch of the aedeagus a narrow parallel band enveloping the caecum ( Figs. 21-22 ).

Female. Forewing length 9 - 11mm. Subgenital plate with short broad lobes separated by deep wide Vshaped notch ( Fig. 23 ).

Egg. Oval. Collar stalked, short, not wide. Chorion smooth ( Fig. 24 ).

Larva. Unknown.

Diagnosis. The distinctive color pattern and hyaline wings with brown veins of P. cranshawi easily distinguishes both the male and female from all other described Perlesta , except P. frisoni Banks and P. nelsoni Stark. In the males, P. frisoni has the sensilla basiconica concentrated into two circular patches on tergum 10, and in P. nelsoni the penis + sac is long and slender lacking a caecum. Additionally, the paraprocts of the male of P. cranshawi are distinctive, closest to P. nitida Banks , but readily separable by the narrow lateral appearance ( Fig. 18 ). In Stark (2004), the male of P. cranshawi will key to couplet 12, which ends in P. puttmanni and P. decipiens (Walsh) ; however, the paraprocts of P. cranshawi are distinctly different as described above. The female of P. cranshawi will key to couplet 10 (venation is as dark as P. frisoni ) in Stark (2004), the egg being similar to P. nelsoni , but can be distinguished by darker wing venation and distinctively marked head and pronotum ( Fig. 16 ).

Remarks. The Nottoway River is a major tributary of Chowan River system that flows into the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. It originates on the Outer Piedmont Plateau Province of Virginia near Scholfield, Prince Edward County. At the type location, down stream of “Double Bridge” and just upstream of the Fall Line, the Nottoway River has fast-flowing water with outcroppings of bedrock, riffles with large boulders, cobble, and shifting sand. The mean stream width at the site is about 37 m. Additionally, A. abnormis , A. arenosa (Pictet) , A. arida (Hagen) , P. fumosa , Agnetina flavescens (Walsh) , and Pteronarcys dorsata (Say) were collected concurrently. Perlesta roblei Kondratieff and Kirchner , a species originally described from Middlesex Co. on the Coastal Plain of Virginia, was collected in North Carolina from Edgecombe Co., Swift Creek, Seven Bridges Road, East of Rocky Mount (N 36°03’31” W 077°40’50”), 18 May 2004, B. Kondratieff, R.F. Kirchner, and R.E. Zuellig.

Etymology. The patronym honors Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, Professor of Entomology, Colorado State University, a remarkable entomologist and truly a friend to the senior author.

Figures

Figs. 16-23. Perlesta cranshawi. 16, Adult head and pronotum. 17, Male terminalia, dorsal. 18, Paraproct, lateral. 19, Paraproct ventral. 20, Paraproct caudal, 21. Penis, lateral. 22, Penis, dorsal. 23, Subgenital plate, ventral.

Fig. 24. Perlesta cranshawi. Scanning electron photomicrograph of entire egg, 265x.