Nemoura vinconi, Murányi, Dávid, 2007

Murányi, Dávid, 2007, New and little – known stoneflies (Plecoptera) from Albania and the neighbouring countries, Zootaxa 1533, pp. 1-40 : 17-21

Nemoura vinconi sp. n. ( Figs 43 –55)

Type material: Holotype male: ALBANIA, Tropoja County, Prokletije Mountains, Rrogam, spring system of the Valbonë River, N 42°24.620’ E 19°49.366’, 1457 m, 0 2.06.2005, leg. KB, ZB, DM, DP ( HNHM: PLP1934). Allotype female: same locality and date ( HNHM: PLP1935). Paratypes: same locality and date: 9♂ 10Ψ, 5 larvae, 3 exuviae ( HNHM: PLP1936, 2 male epiprocts prepared on slide, 1 larva and 1 exuviae partly prepared for SEM), 1♂ 1Ψ, 1 larva ( CPZ), 1♂ 1Ψ, 1 larva (CGV).

Other material: ALBANIA: Shkodër County, Prokletije Mountains, stream along the conjunction to Pejë Pass from the Bogë–Okol road, N 42°24.496’ E 19°45.271’, 1009 m, 30.05.2005, leg. KB, ZB, DM, DP: 1♂ 1Ψ; Shkodër County, Prokletije Mountains, Okol, stream below Valbonë Pass, N 42°24.385’ E 19°47.917’, 1432 m, 0 1.06.2005, leg. KB, ZB, DM, DP: 1♂ 1Ψ; Shkodër County, Prokletije Mountains, beech forest along the path from Okol to Valbonë Pass, N 42°24.374’ E 19°48.461’, 1070 m, 0 3.06.2005, leg. KB, ZB, DM, DP: 1♂.

Diagnosis: Male: Apical sclerite of the epiproct horn–like, curved backwards and inwards, lateral arms large. Cerci with prominent vestigial segment, the apex bearing a strong hook curved downwards and outwards.

Description: Medium sized species, macropterous in both sexes. Body length: ♂ holotype 6.5 mm, other males 6.0– 6.5 mm, Ψ allotype 9.0 mm, other females 7.5–9.0 mm; forewing length: ♂ holotype 7.5 mm, other males 7.0–8.0 mm, Ψ allotype 10.0 mm, other females 9.0– 10.5 mm. Head dark brown with a light spot between the lateral ocelli. Scapes yellow, rest of the antenna brown, palpi yellowish. Pronotum dark brown, subrectangular, with rounded corners. Femora and tibia yellow, tarsal segments darkened. Wings hyaline, venation dark brown. Abdomen off white except for terminal segments, which are dark brown.

Male terminalia: Hypoproct longer than wide, pentagonal, with apical tip narrowly separated from the rest of the plate. Vesicle oval, nearly twice as long as wide. Paraproct inner margin of the outer lobe slightly convex with a prominence in the middle, outer margin curved. Tip of the outer lobe triangular, blunt ( Fig 43–45 ). Cercus sclerotized laterally, membranous in its inner side and to the vestigial second segment; straight in lateral view, slightly bent inwards in ventral and dorsal views. Base slightly wider than the rest of the cercus. Vestigial second segment prominent, sclerotization forming a ring around the cercal tip, apical hook strong, curved ventrolaterally ( Fig 46 ). Tergite X with a medial light spot under the tip of the epiproct. Epiproct stout and short, sub–trapezoidal. Ventral sclerite with parallel ridges bearing 9–10 spines ventrally. Arms of the ventral sclerite dorsally forming a strong, heart–shaped ring. Apical sclerites are strong, horn–like, curved anteromedially. These sclerites have three spines on their lateral surface, and two thin sclerotized extensions on their inner subapical part; the extensions nearly joining themselves medially. Sclerotized parts of the lateral arms large and dark. Ventrally, the lateral sclerites are strong and triangular ( Fig 47 ).

Female terminalia: Pregenital plate covering two thirds length and over half the width of sternite VII, overhanging the anterior third of sternite VIII. Posterior edge of plate truncate, with convergent sides. Most of the plate dark brown, anterior part lighter. Posterior margin of sternite VIII with brown patches laterally ( Fig 48 ). Vaginal complex with simple receptaculum seminis ( Fig 49 ). Cerci and paraprocts typical for the genus.

Mature Larva: Relatively robust, body length 6.0– 8.5 mm. General colour brown. Pilosity distinct. Scales present only in the dorsal midline of the femora and on tarsi. Legs typical for the genus, tibiae as long or slightly longer than femora; hind femora short, two times as long as wide. Head stout, with mottled pattern and a transverse dark band between the lateral ocelli. Pronotum subtrapezoidal, corners rounded, slightly narrowing towards the posterior margin; its length two thirds of its maximum width. Wing pads of length typical for the genus, abdomen relatively stout, last four segments are paler. Cerci long, with more than 20 segments. Cercal segments clubbed, segments 13–15 are three times longer than wide.

FIGURES 50–55. Larva of Nemoura vinconi sp. n. —50: marginal setae of pronotum; 51: hind femur; 52: bristles and spikes of the femora; 53: marginal setae of mesonotum; 54: tergites IV–V; 55: cercus, 15th segment —scale 0.1 mm

Pilosity: Head with dense, stout bristles and a few thin hairs; bristles are clubbed before the occipital line. Antennal segments with short pilosity. Pronotum with scarce short, stout bristles and thin hairs. Margin of the pronotum with blunt bristles, the longest ones not reaching one tenth of the pronotum’s width (Fig 50). The bristles on the anterior corners of the mesonotum and metanotum are longer than the marginal bristles of pronotum (Fig 53). The setae placed in lines on the wing pads are short, mixed with thin hairs. Legs with dense pilosity. All femora bear short, acute bristles, thin hairs and long, stout bristles. Long bristles occur on the apical half of the fore and mid femora, and on the apical two thirds of the hind femora. Bristles not in a regular arrangement; the longest ones reach about half the femur width on all legs. Bald median line conspicuous on the dorsal surface of all femora, covered with rounded scales. Apical row of short bristles present on all femora (Figs 51–52). Tarsi relatively stout, covered with thin hairs, metatarsi with triangular scales on the dorsal surface; apical spike of tibiae short. Tergal segments with scarce, short bristles and dense, thin hairs; the last tergites are nearly bald. Distal row of bristles with bristles variable in length, acute and curved; the longest ones on tergite V reach the three fourths of the segment’s length (Fig 54). Distal margin covered with tiny triangular spikes around the row of bristles. Cercal segments with a few hairs besides the apical whorl of bristles. The apical whorl is a set of 16–18 short, clubbed bristles and 6–8 long, acute bristles mixed with thin hairs. Longest bristles reach less than two thirds of the segment’s length on segments 13–15 (Fig 55).

Affinities: This is a member of the marginata group and is close to N. zwicki Sivec and N. hesperiae Consiglio. The male differs from N. zwicki in the apex of the cerci, as the vestigial segment is stronger and the apical hook is curved downwards in the new species; the apical hook is erect in N. zwicki . It differs from N. hesperiae also in the apical hook of the cerci, which is small and straight in N. hesperiae . The epiproct of N. obtusa Ris is similar to that of the new species, but both paraprocts and cerci differ distinctly. The paraproct inner margin of the outer lobe is slightly convex with a prominence in the middle, while the outer margin is curved in the new species. The inner margin has a very small prominence and outer margin sinuous in N. obtusa . The cerci of the latter is curved in lateral view, but straight in the new species. The female and larva cannot be distinguished with certainty from others in the group.

Ecology and distribution: The species was found in karst springs and streams of the Prokletije Mountains between 1000 and 1450 m ( Fig 107 ). All the habitats are characterised by cold water and fast flow. Since the specimens were found between the 30 May and the 3 June in common with matured larvae, it seems to be a late spring and early summer species. Late spring collections were conducted only in the Prokletije Mountains, additional effort in northeastern Albania are needed to determine if this species can be found towards the Šar Planina (border of Kosovo and Macedonia), where the closely related and probably endemic, N. zwicki occurs ( Fig 101 ).

Etymology: The species is dedicated to Dr. Gilles Vinçon, Grenoble, France, for his great contributions to the study of Palaearctic stoneflies, and also for his suggestions and comments related to the present study. Used as the genitive of a noun of male gender.

Figures

FIGURES 43 – 47. Male of Nemoura vinconi sp. n. — 43: male terminalia, ventral view; 44: male terminalia, dorsal view; 45: male terminalia, lateral view; 46: pilosity of cercus, ventral view; 47: epiproct, upside dorsal, downside ventral view — scale 0.5 mm, Figs 46 – 47 not to scale.

FIGURES 48 – 49. Female of Nemoura vinconi sp. n. — 48: female terminalia, ventral view; 49: vaginal complex – scale 0.5 mm, Fig 49 not to scale

FIGURES 106 – 109. Locus typicus habitat photos — 106: Terthorë Pass – Nemoura asceta sp. n.; 107: Valbonë spring – Leuctra malcor sp. n., Nemoura vinconi sp. n.; 108: Valbonë River – Leuctra mortoni feheri ssp. n.; 109: Shtamë Pass – Nemoura anas sp. n.

FIGURES 100 – 102. Ditsributional maps — 100: Nemoura peristeri group; 101: Nemoura vinconi sp. n. and N. zwicki; 102: Siphonoperla graeca stat. n., S. neglecta and S. burmeisteri in the Balkans