Rapisma changqingensis, Liu, Xingyue, 2018

Liu, Xingyue, 2018, A review of the montane lacewing genus Rapisma McLachlan (Neuroptera, Ithonidae) from China, with description of two new species, Zoosystematics and Evolution 94 (1), pp. 57-71 : 63-64

Rapisma changqingensis sp. n. Figs 2, 3, 7, 8, 10

Diagnosis.

Body and forewings generally greenish in both males and females. Head medially without dark marking. Antenna extremely short, less than 1/5 × forewing length. Male gonocoxites 9 paired, glabrous; each with a broad subtrapezoidal lobe and a slender, arcuately curved lateral arm; fused gonocoxites 11 generally arched, anteriorly broadly concaved but with a semicircular median notch, posteriorly convex in dorsal view; gonostyli 11 having obtuse dorsal lobe with a few short setae, and flat ventral lobe distally with a pair of tufts of long setae.

Description.

Male. Body length 18.0 mm; forewing length 25.0 mm, hindwing length 21.7 mm.

Head nearly semiglobular, largely retracted under prothorax, barely visible in dorsal view. Head slightly yellowish green; a narrow blackish stripe present around compound eye and slightly extending toward vertex. Compound eyes blackish brown; EI ratio 0.68. Antenna nearly moniliform, short, 4.0 mm long, with 24 flagellomeres; yellowish throughout. Mandibles with tips black.

Thorax entirely greenish, meso- and metathorax slightly paler than prothorax, without any distinct markings. Legs yellowish throughout; pretarsal claws reddish brown with base yellowish, proximally slightly produced.

Forewing greenish, immaculate. Trichosors absent. A proximal nygma present between RP+MA and MP, whitish. RP with 8 pectinate branches. Hindwing much paler than forewing. A proximal nygma present between RP+MA and MP, whitish. Costal space with a few interlink veinlets among costal crossveins on proximal half. RP with 7 pectinate branches.

Abdomen yellowish green, with terga and genitalia brown. Tergum 9 subtrapezoidal, with sparse short setae. Sternum 9 slightly shorter than tergum 9, about 2.0 times as wide as long, with slightly arcuate posterior margin. Ectoprocts slightly shorter and much narrower than tergum 9, ventrally divided into a pair of ovoid lobes; callus cerci present, slightly prominent. Gonocoxites 9 paired, glabrous; each with a broad subtrapezoidal lobe and a slender, arcuately curved lateral arm. Fused gonocoxites 11 generally arched, anteriorly broadly concaved but with a semicircular median notch, posteriorly convex in dorsal view. Gonostyli 11 with a pair of dorsal and a single ventral lobe; dorsal lobe obtuse, with a few short setae; ventral lobe flat, distally with a pair of tufts of long setae.

Female. Body length 24.8 mm; forewing length 32.0 mm, hindwing length 28.9 mm.

Body and forewings in general greenish. Head without dark marking. Forewing with a few tiny dark spots.

Sternum 7 large, posteromedially with a narrow groove. Gonocoxites+gonapophyses 8 fused, broadly subtrapezoid, notched distally, with a pair of digitiform projections and a weak median projection. Gonocoxites 9 nearly semicircular in lateral view, distally with tiny gonostyli 9; a pair of small setose ovoid gonapophyses 9 present posteriad gonocoxites 8 and beneath gonocoxites 9. Ectoprocts nearly semicircular in lateral view.

Materials examined.

Holotype male, China, Shaanxi, Yangxian, Changqing National Nature Reserve, Yangjiagou, 1281 m, 33.6390°N 107.4965°E, 18.VII.2017, Bozun Huang & Zhifei Liu (CAU). Paratype: 1 female, same collecting site as holotype, 24.VII.2017, Puyuan Liu (CAU).

Etymology.

The new species is named based on the Changqing National Nature Reserve where type specimens of this species were collected.

Distribution.

China (Shaanxi).

Remarks.

The new species appears to be closely related to R. yanhuangi from Sichuan by the similar body and wing coloration as well as the general characteristics of male genitalia, but it can be distinguished from the latter species by the male head medially without dark marking, the male gonostyli 11 with a pair of dorsal lobes not prominent posterolaterally, and the shape of male fused gonocoxites 11. In R. yanhuangi the male head medially possesses several dark markings, the dorsal lobes of male gonostyli 11 are distinctly prominent posterolaterally, and the male fused gonocoxites 11 is differently shaped compared with R. changqingensis sp. n.

The two specimens of this new species were collected by accident in a field survey performed by a summer camp for natural education called "Wings of Nature" in Changqing National Nature Reserve, Shaanxi, China. All collectors of these two specimens are middle school students. The holotype male was found falling in a pond probably from a tree nearby, while the paratype female was found resting on a tree.

The Changqing National Nature Reserve is located at the southern slope of Qinling Mountains, which is commonly considered as a boundary between Palaearctic and Oriental regions in China ( Zhang 1999), and it is one of the nature reserves that harbour some endangered wildlife, such as giant pandas, crested ibises, sub-nosed monkeys, etc. The climate of the collecting site of R. changqingensis sp. n. is warm temperate, and the vegetation is kind of mixed evergreen broad-leaf and coniferous forest. However, most Rapisma species are from subtropical or tropical regions with rainforests. So far, R. changqingensis sp. n. represents the northernmost record of Rapisma .