Claassenia semibrachyptera Wu & Claassen

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2010, Systematic Notes On The Genus Claassenia Wu (Plecoptera: Perlidae), With Description Of A New Species, Illiesia 6 (24), pp. 303-314 : 308-309

Claassenia semibrachyptera Wu & Claassen

( Figs. 20-25 )

Claassenia semibrachyptera Wu & Claassen, 1934 :127. Holotype ♂ ( USNM), Sichuan Province, between Yachow and Suifu, China

Perlodes simplicior Navas, 1934:4 . Holotype ♂ (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden), Sichuan Province, China. Synonymy by Brinck (1954)

Perlodes brevipennis Navas, 1934:5 . Holotype ♂ (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden), Sichuan Province, China. Synonymy by Brinck (1954)

Perlodes debilior Navas, 1934:6 . Holotype ♂ (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden), Gansu Province, China. Synonymy by Brinck (1954 )

Material examined. China: Sichuan Province, between Yachow and Suifu, 27 June-4 July 1930, D.C. Graham, 1♂ (Holotype, USNM) . Same data, 1♀ (Paratype, USNM) . Sichuan Province, between Suifu and Kiating, 1000-1200 ’, 15 June 1929, 3♂ (Paratypes, USNM) . Same location, 26 June-1 July 1930, 2♂, 2♀ (Paratypes) + 2♂ (pinned) ( USNM) . Sichuan Province, Chengtu to Kuanshien, 2-5 July 1924, D.C. Graham, 1♂ (Paratype, USNM) . Sichuan Province, Suifu , 1000’, 12 May 1928, D.C. Graham, 1♀ (Paratype, USNM) . Sichuan Province, Shin Kaisi, Mt. Omei , 4400’, 1-30 July 1921, D.C. Graham, 1♂ (pinned, USNM) .

Adult habitus. General color yellow brown, wings pale brown with darker veins. Pattern obscured due to specimen condition, but according to Wu (1938) the ocellar triangle is dark and the pronotum bears a median dark band.

Male. Slightly brachypterous or macropterous forewing length 15-28 mm. Hemitergal lobes short, finger-like, straight in lateral aspect ( Fig. 21 ), angled inward to anterior margin of tergum 10 in dorsal aspect ( Fig. 20 ); hemiterga without conspicuous sensilla basiconica. Tergum 9 bearing a wide mesal field of sensilla basiconica set on a low hump. Aedeagus a membranous, cylindrical bag armed on dorsum with a subapical patch of microtrichia, and laterally with a scattered patch of fine setal spines.

Female. Macropterous, forewing length ca. 25 mm. Subgenital plate scarcely produced, extending only slightly beyond lateral margins of sternum 8, typical of genus. A patch of microtrichia extends almost completely across the intersegmental membrane of sterna 9 and 10.

Larva. Unknown.

Egg. Total length ca. 396-417 μm, equatorial width ca. 326-328 μm. Spindle shaped with low, wide button collar ( Fig. 22 ). Chorion covered with shallow pits grouped in obscure follicle cell impressions over much of surface, but anterior end bearing a small area of follicle cell impressions (ca. 3 rows) without pits ( Fig. 24 ) and area near collar smooth ( Fig. 23 ). Micropylar row subequatorial, located ca. 166 μm from anterior end; orifices set in small cup-like depressions with long, smooth sperm guides extending from cup rims ( Fig. 25 ).

Comments. Wu (1962) indicates for known species redescribed in his study, that redescriptions are based on “ neotypes ” because “<various collections in China {were} unfortunately destroyed during wars”. On page 150 of the article C. semibrachyptera is redescribed and a new type series is listed, despite the fact that the holotype and much of the original paratype series had been placed in the USNM (Wu & Claassen 1934; Wu 1938), and is still intact. The neotype designation for this species (and for others in this same study) appear not to have met the conditions of the code and should, in our opinion, be considered invalid. Brink (1954) indicates the types of P. simplicior , P. brevipennis and P. debilior are in extremely poor condition and are unlikely to have retained distinctive morphological features. Their synonymy is based primarily on sharing a common distribution.

Figures

Figs. 20-21. Claassenia semibrachyptera structures. 20. Male genitalia, dorsal. 21. Male hemitergum and cercal base, lateral.

Figs. 22-25. Claassenia semibrachyptera egg. 22. Egg, lateral. 23. Collar end. 24. Anterior end. 25. Micropyles.