Archilestes latialatus, Donnelly, 1981

Donnelly, Thomas W., 1981, A new species of Archilestes from Mexico and Central America, with further notes on the status of Cyptolestes Williamson (Odonata: Lestidae), Florida Entomologist 64, pp. 412-417 : 412-414

Archilestes latialatus 2 Donnelly, New Species

( Fig. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9)

The new species Archilestes latialatus is closely related to A. tuberalatus ( Williamson, 1921) , from which it is distinguished by the form of the male superior appendage, which in the new species is sharply deflected and ends in a protuberant ventral point, while in tuberalatus the termination is blunt.

Holotype Male: Head: labrum, sides of mandibles, genae, anteclypeus pale bluish green, the labrum with a thin dark marginal line; frons and remainder of top of head and antennae, dark. Prothorax: partially pruinosed, obscurely dark with metallic green sheen; lateral swellings of tergal midlobe edged behind and laterally with yellow; hind lobe with low, raised, rounded margin. Pterothorax: dominantly metallic green above (mesepisternum and mesepimeron) and partially pruinosed pale yellow below (mes- and metinfrapisternum, metepisternum, and metepimeron), with a thin yellow line along dorsal carina and yellow line along dorsal carina and yellow band along humeral suture, continuing around margins of mesepimeron and isolating the metallic color. Metathorax and pectus pale, with color grading from bright on inferior marking of metepimeron to obscure on the remainder of these areas. Venation: veins black, stigma dark reddish brown; the marginal cell bordering the subquadrangle swollen in the hind wing, and the distal cross vein of this cell 1.64 times as long as the corresponding vein in the fore wing. Legs: dark, pale yellow as follows: inferior margins of middle and hind coxae (which, however, are partially pruinosed), fore parts of middle and hind trochanters, and lines on proximal 3/4 of dorsal surface of femora. Abdomen: dark, grading to metallic green on dorsum of segments 2 and 3; pale yellow on lateral portions of 1 and small lateralbasal and lateral-apical spots on 2; thin yellow line along ventral margin of terga of 3 to 8. Appendages: black, superior appendages forcipate with tips deflecting downward, terminating in an outwardly recurved, flattened point; in dorsal view with an internal rounded prominence of 3/4 the length and with a small basal internal rounded swelling; small teeth along externalapical margin. Inferior appendages wanting, represented only by slightly raised swellings.

Allotype Female: generally similar to male, differing as follows: pale color of front of head differentiated into a dominantly bluish labrum and dominantly greenish anteclypeus, sides of mandibles, and genae. Top of head with a pale yellow line extending laterally from the hind corners of the vertex. Prothorax more pale than in male; pterothorax with yellow color of mid-dorsal carina wider, causing restriction of metallic green of mesepisterum to the center of that pleuron. Fore tibiae with a thin dorsal yellow line. Abdomen dark with green dorsally from segment 2 to 7; lateral pale yellow prominent on 1 and 2 and wider than in male on 3 to 8. Obscure lateral pale spot on 9. Ovipositor with ventral margin armed with a row of small teeth.

Dimensions (in mm): Holotype male: abdomen 54, hind wing 35.5, nodus of hind wing 12 from base. Paratype males: abdomens range from 52 to 56.5 (54.2, 1.3 3); hind wings range from 34 to 37 (35.4, 0.9) and the nodus ranges from 11 to 12.25 (11.7, 0.4; 33 per cent of the wing length). Allotype female: abdomen 49.5, hind wing 38, nodus of hind wing 12.75 from base. Paratype female: abdomen 47.5, hind wing 35.5, nodus of hind wing 12 from base.

Variations Among the Paratype Series: The type series of 16 males and 2 females shows relatively little variation. The broadening ratio, defined here as the relative length of the distal vein in the cell marginal to the subquadrangle in the hind wing to that in the fore wing, ranges from 1.32 to 1.64 (1.48, 0.10). The elongation ratio of the first post-quadrangular cell, defined as the relative lengths of the anterior to the distal vein of that cell, ranges from 1.45 to 2.00 (1.69, 0.17). The length of the stigma ranges from 2.4 to 2.8 mm (2.6, 0.1; which is 7 per cent of the wing length). Vein R4 (M3 of Williamson) originates 1.2 to 1.5 mm from the quadrangle (1.04, 0.1; which is 4 per cent of the wing length). Vein R3 (M2) originates 2.4 to 3.5 (2.9, 0.3) and vein IR2 (Mia) 5 to 7.8 cells (6.5, 0.8) from the nodus. The 2 females are similarly close, having broadening ratios of 1.50 and 1.71, and elongation ratios of the first post-quadrangular cell 1.57 and 1.73. The stigmae are 2.7 and 2.8 mm long; the origin of R4 is 1.3 and 1.5 mm from the quadrangle. R3 originates 2.5 and 2.8 and IR3 6.6 and 6.0 cells from the nodus.

Specimens Examined: Holotype male: Honduras: Cortez Province, Rio Piedras at San Pedro Sula , 16-VII-1971, coll. T. Donnelly. Allotype female: same locality, 9-15-VIII-1976, coll. T. and A. Donnelly. Paratypes: same locality: 16-VII-1971, coll. T. Donnelly, 2 ♂ ; same locality, 9-15-VII-1976, coll. T. and A. Donnelly, 1 ♂ ; Guatemala: Alta Verapaz Dept., Minas de Oxec, 10 km ESE of Cahabón , 200 m, 12-14-VI-1977, coll. T. Donnelly, 2 ♂ 1♀ ; Nicaragua: Matagalpa Prov., 10 km SE of San Ramó ;, 700 m, 18-20- VI-1974, coll. T. and A. Donnelly, 1 ♂ ; Mexico: Chiapas; 21.4 km N of Ocozocoautla , 600 m, 20-21-VII-1965, coll. D. R. Paulson, 5 ♂ ; Mexico: Chiapas; 20.1 km N of Ocozocoautla , 600 m, 25-VIII-1967, coll. D. R. and M. L. Paulson, 4 ♂. The holotype and allotype specimens are deposited in ' the Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville, Florida. Paratypes are deposited in the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, and the National Museum of Natural History, as well as in various private collections.