Insulibrachys needhami Soldán, 1986

L, Carlos Naranjo, Peters, Janice G., del, Pedro López & Castillo, 2019, Ephemeroptera (Insecta) in Cuba, Insecta Mundi 2019 (736), pp. 1-52 : 19

A.32. Insulibrachys needhami Soldán, 1986

Figures 19, 60 .

Insulibrachys needhami Soldán 1986:334 (nymph and female imago); Sun and McCafferty 2008:48.

Holotype. Female nymph, Province Pinar del Río, Santa Cruz de los Baños, March 1939, col. J. G. Needham. The only paratype is also from Pinar del Río Province.

The one nymph and the one female from a different locality were described by Soldán (1986). The two specimens were not associated and males are unknown. It has never been seen again and is considered extremely rare and possibly extinct, but can be easily recognized by setaceous tubercles on the ocelli.

Ecology. According to Soldán (1986), the presence in the nymph of ocellar tubercles, thoracic protuberances, posterolateral spines on the abdominal segments and heavy setation on the legs are adaptations to a burrowing habitat.

Geographic distribution. Endemic to the Western Region ( Fig. 19).

Subfamily Caeninae

Figures

Figures 58–61. Leptohyphidae and Caenidae. 58) Tricorythodes cubensis. 58a) Habitus. 58b) Operculate gill. 59) Tricorythodes montanus. 59a) Habitus.59b) Operculate gill.59c) Habitus. 60) Insulibrachys needhami. 61) Caenis cubensis. 61a) Mature nymph. 61b) Younger nymph. Figure 58b, 59b after Kluge and Naranjo 1990; Fig. 60 after Sun and McCafferty 2008 (gills on right removed).