Periclystus vicinus New, 1985

Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Oswald, John David, 2020, Morphological phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the former antlion subtribe Periclystina (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Dendroleontinae), Zootaxa 4796 (1), pp. 1-322 : 282-285

Periclystus vicinus New, 1985

( Figs. 142 , 149–150 )

Periclystus vicinus New, 1985c:229 (OD); Stange 2004:107 (cat); Oswald 2018 (cat).

Diagnosis. Body mostly dark; wings broad, apices weakly falcate; hind wing with two broad brown bands separated by a narrow hyaline area.

Description. Lengths: forewing: 46 mm; hind wing: 41 mm.

Head ( Fig. 149a ): Labrum reddish brown, set with a line of elongate setae. Clypeus reddish brown, set with some elongate black setae. Frons mostly reddish brown, but slightly darker in border; set with short black setae. Gena slightly darker than frons. Vertex strongly raised; pale to reddish brown with some small irregular dark marks medially; darker areas covered with short black setae. Ocular setae absent. Antennae filiform; elongate (tip broken); distance between antennae wider than scape width; scape and pedicel reddish brown; flagellomeres entirely pale; torular membrane reddish brown; flagellomeres almost as long as wide; all segments set with short black setae. Mandible reddish brown, with internal margin darker. Palpi, maxillary and labial dark reddish brown; apical labial palpomere fusiform, palpimacula opening oval-shaped, located medially.

Thorax ( Fig. 149a ): Pronotum about as long as wide; posterior margin about as wide as anterior; subapical furrow present; reddish brown but with a medial longitudinal black line; covered with some short black setae and some long setae at margins and medial area. Mesonotum black, except for scattered small pale marks; set with short black setae, and some long setae at prescutum, Metanotum black, set with short black setae. Pterothoracic pleura black; covered with long black setae; Miller’s organ absent.

Wings ( Figs. 149 a–b): Broad with tip weakly falcate; anterior Banksian line present in both wings, posterior absent; veins mostly dark brown, but some veins intercalated with white spots, and basal veins mostly white; beset with short black setae. Male pilula axillaris present. Forewing membrane hyaline, with tip mostly brown, but enclosing some small transparent areas, with a transverse curved brown streak located near the apex of CuP; and with scattered brown marks, mainly at base, posterior margin, around crossveins, of mediocubital, subcostal, and radial areas; CuA fork located between RP origin and first fork; five presectoral crossveins; subcostal veinlets mostly simple, with few distal ones forked; posterior area much wider than prefork area. Hind wing veins mostly white; membrane mostly hyaline except for tip, mostly brown with a subapical transverse hyaline stripe; MP fork located between RP origin and first fork; subcostal veinlets simple; one presectoral crossvein.

Legs ( Fig. 149a ): All pairs of legs, femur elongate (> 3.5x length of coxa); tibia slightly longer than femur but about twice longer than tarsi; tibial spurs extending over T2 apex; T3 and T4 about same size, T2 slightly longer than T3, T1 twice longer than T2, and T5 twice longer than T1; claws about half of T5 length; all segments set with short black setae, and scattered long setae; T5 ventrally with two rows of thick, long, black setae. Proleg sense hair absent; tibia with antennal cleaning setae ventroapically; coxa and trochanter black, femur basal half dark brown but remaining areas pale, tibia and tarsi pale. Mesoleg with colour pattern similar to proleg, except for femur with only basal extremity dark brown, remaining areas pale. Metaleg with femur and tibia slightly longer than in other legs; with same colour pattern of mesoleg.

Abdomen: Mostly black except for pale basal halves of tergite 3 and 4 and basal halves of sternites 2 and 3. Beset with black setae.

Male Terminalia ( Figs. 150 a–c): Ectoproct with ventral margin straight and slightly longer than dorsal margin in lateral view; covered elongate black setae. 9 th sternite short, with posterior margin rounded in ventral view; covered with long black setae mainly medially. Gonarcus broad, arched, with anterior margin rounded in lateral view. Mediuncus large, broad, with tip acute. Paramere broad, in ventral view with anterior margin rounded, posterior with two acute expansions (external much larger); in lateral view apex of external expansion rounded.

Female Terminalia: Unknown

Distribution ( Fig. 142 ). Papua New Guinea: Central (province) (known only from holotype).

Adult activity period. Record for March.

Biology. Unknown, larva unknown.

Name-bearing type. Periclystus vicinus : Holotype (by original designation), male, ANIC, examined. Type locality: Papua New Guinea, Central (province), 20 km SE Port Moresby (city). From original description: “ Type— Papua New Guinea: Holotype ♂, Central Province, ca 20 km SE of Port Moresby, 20.iii.1982. J.W. Ismay (swept from trees) (to be deposited in Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra )”. Condition: good; with antennae tip missing, terminalia dissected.

Comments. Periclystus vicinus is the only species of the genus not endemic and not recorded to the country of Australia, and until this study, the only species of the former Periclystina reported from anywere outside of Australia. Periclystus vicinus and P. circuiter form a terminal sister-species subclade within Periclystus and have probably diverged relatively recently, perhaps influenced by flooding of the Torres straight between New Guinea and Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 142. Distribution of Periclystus species.

FIGURE 149. Periclystus vicinus: a) habitus, lateral; b) wings, dorsal.

FIGURE 150. Periclystus vicinus: male: a) terminalia, lateral; b) genitalia, lateral; c) genitalia, ventral. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.