Inacayalestes, Petrulevičius, 2015

Petrulevičius, Julián F., 2015, A new Synlestidae damselfly (Insecta: Odonata: Zygoptera) from the early Eocene of Nahuel Huapi Este, Patagonia, Argentina., Arquivos Entomolóxicos 14, pp. 287-294 : 289

Inacayalestes gen. nov.

Type species: Inacayalestes aikunhuapi sp. nov.

Diagnosis. This genus is known by wing characters: discoidal cell narrow and long; distal angle of discoidal cell acute; Ax2 just distal of the arculus; MP distinctly curved after its origin; postnodal And postsubnodAl crossveins Aligned; vein “O” slightly oblique; bAses of RP3/4 two cells bAsAl to nodus; IR2 aligned with nodus; base of RP2 6 cells distal of subnodus; CuP ending in A (wing margin); AA+CuP bifurcates from AP (wing margin) just basal to arculus; distal side of discoidal cell (MAb) 1.5 times longer than anterior side (MA); sdv long; 1/3 of the posterior margin of the subdiscoidal cell fused to the hind margin.

Etymology. In honour of Inacayal (1833-1888), Günün a Küne (Puelche) chief (Cacique) of the region of Nahuel Huapi lake; and "lestes", because of usual ending for lestoid damselflies. Inacayal was captured by the Argentinean state army (conducted by General Julio Argentino Roca) during the genocidal campaign "Conquest of the Desert" carried out to break the sovereignty of the indigenous communities in PAtAgoniA. After thAt, he wAs “rescued” from the detention cAmp with pArt of his family by the Perito Francisco Josué Pascasio Moreno in gratitude for his help in a previous Patagonian expedition. He was installed, as a living and afterwards as a dead specimen, in the Museo de La Plata from 1886 to 1888 where he died by no clear reasons. His skeleton was restituted to Patagonia by a National Law, after claims by several indigenous communities and a National Senator, in 1994. Nevertheless, other claimed remains as his scalp and brain and also from other members of the community are still part of the collection of the museum.