Brachyptera phthiotica Berthélemy, 1971

Murányi, Dávid, 2007, New and little – known stoneflies (Plecoptera) from Albania and the neighbouring countries, Zootaxa 1533, pp. 1-40 : 3-4

Brachyptera phthiotica Berthélemy, 1971 (Figs 1–3)

Brachyptera phthiotica Berthélemy, 1971 — Berthélemy 1971: 38 –40. ( Greece, Timfristos: ♂ holotype, 9Ψ paratypes) Brachyptera phthiotica Berthélemy—Zwick 1978: 26 . ( Greece)

Material: ALBANIA: Berat County, Tomor Mountains, upper valley of the Vodicë Stream, karst spring in a beech forest, N 40°42.897’ E 20°06.763’, 900 m, 26.05.2004, leg. KB, KH, DM, KO: 1Ψ; Tepelenë County, Kendrevicë Mountains, spring section of the Bencë River under Kresha Pass, N 40°16.561’ E 19°54.078’, 884 m, 0 3.05.2005, leg. ZB, GK, DP: 8♂ 7Ψ, 5 larvae, 1 exuviae.

Description of the mature larva: Body length 10.5–11.0 mm. General colour light brown with dark pattern (Fig 1). Pilosity short, long swimming hairs present on tibiae and femora, these absent on tarsi. Head with a dark line in front of anterior ocellus, two dark patches anteriorly to the lateral ocelli, occiput with small dark spots. Labrum with dark anterolateral margin; antennae pale, anterior margins of scapes darker than flagellum. Antennal segments 25–30, each as long as wide. Pronotum with dark spots forming a more or less C–shaped pattern on both sides. Meso– and metanotum with cloudy pattern medially extending to wing pad bases, wing pads strongly divergent from body axis. Legs light brown, with an indistinct brown stripe on the femora; tarsi darker. Abdominal segments with lateral and anterior margins darker, two dark, intermittent stripes arising medially from the anterior margin. Transverse row of spots were indistinct. Posterior margin of tergites I–IX with a row of short, stout bristles. Cerci light brown, with a dorsal row of short swimming hairs on proximal third of the segments. Ventral surface is off white, except the terminalia which are dark brown. Male subgenital plate slightly elongate, one and half longer than wide, oval, widest in posterior third, and rounded anteriorly (Fig 2). Posterior half of the plate covered with thin hairs. Base of the paraprocts wide, apical projections gently curved laterally, tips sharp. Epiproct projecting dorsally, triangular, and more or less pointed. Female subgenital plate poorly developed, gonopore a shallow indentation. Postgenital plate oval, dimensions shorter than male, widest in the middle, covering two thirds of the segment’s width, rounded posteriorly (Fig 3). Posterior half of the plate covered with thin hairs. Paraprocts and epiproct simple.

Affinities: The terminalia of the larva is very similar to that of B. graeca as it was described and illustrated by Kaćanski (1971b): male subgenital plate rounded, apical projections of paraprocts gently curved laterally; female postgenital plate oval, widest in the middle. The male larva is distinguished by its more elongate subgenital plate, while the female has a more rounded posterior half of the postgenital plate. Moreover, the larva of B. phtiotica is characterized by its paler habitus, by the short and gently curved apical projection of the male paraproct, and by the shape of the male subgenital plate and female postgenital plate.

Remarks: Previously known only from Greece ( Fig 97 ). This represents a new Albanian record, both localities being karst–crenal habitats.

FIGURES—1–3. Larva of Brachyptera phthiotica Berthélemy —1: habitus; 2: terminalia of male larvae, ventral view; 3:

Figures

FIGURES 97 – 99. Ditsributional maps — 97: Brachyptera phthiotica; 98: Leuctra malcor sp. n. and L. jahorinensis; 99: Leuctra mortoni feheri ssp. n. and L. mortoni mortoni in the Balkans.