Despaxia asiatica Zwick 2010

Murányi, Dávid & Park, Sun Jae, 2011, Contribution To The Fall Stonefly (Plecoptera) Fauna Of Korea, Illiesia 7 (6), pp. 70-85 : 83-84

Despaxia asiatica Zwick 2010

( Figs. 29 , 37-38 )

Despaxia asiatica Zwick 2010 — Zwick 2010:90 . (original description of the male from Republic of Korea).

Material examined: REPUBLIC OF KOREA: Gangwon Province, Yangyang-gun, Seorak Mts., Hangae-ryeong Pass , 1.5km S of the rest area, brook in deciduous forest, 875m, N38°05.481’ E128°24.267’, 09.09.2010, leg. L á szló Forró, György Makranczy, D á vid Mur á nyi, Sun Jae Park, Jung Do Yoon : 2♂ 1 larva ; Gangwon Province, Inje-gun, Seorak Mts., Misi-ryeong Pass , beneath the rest area, brook in deciduous rocky forest, 745m, N38°12.963’ E128°26.189’, 10.09.2010, leg. D á vid Mur á nyi: 5♂ 2♀ (one female used for drawings Figs. 37-38 ) .

Female terminalia ( Figs. 37-38 ). Terga I-VIII mostly membranous but with transverse row of four pigmented spots, and terga IV-VIII bear a pale and narrow longitudinal medial sclerite. Tergite IX sclerotized medially and posteriorly, tergite X completely sclerotized. Lateral sclerites present on segments II-VIII. Sterna I-VII simple with subrectangular median sclerite and two small anterior sclerites. Sternite VII median sclerite with pale posterior margin, indented in the middle. Sternite VIII with two converging sclerotized stripes on the anterior half, posterior fourth bears a small, dark brown subgenital plate overhanging on sternite IX. The subgenital plate is trapezoidal, sides converging towards the linear posterior margin; its width is more than one third of the segment’s width, length half of the segment’s length. Sternite IX dark with a straight anterior line and two lateral unpigmented areas. Paraproct, epiproct and cercus normal.

Affinities. The female can be easily distinguished from the other known species of the genus, the West Nearctic D. augusta ( Banks 1907) , on the basis of the presence of a subgenital plate and pale middorsal sclerites. The subgenital plate of D. augusta is not developed (see Baumann et al. 1977, Fig. 339), a character that is not diagnostic for the genus.

Notes. The single larva caught together with adults at the Hangae-ryeong Pass is not in the final instar, thus, it is not described herein.

Geographical distribution and ecology ( Fig. 29 ). The species was recently described on the basis of a single male from the same province, caught with a Malaise trap between 1 st of October and 11 th of November ( Zwick 2010). Thus, it seems to be restricted to the Thebek mountain ranges of Korea. As some of the adults that we caught in September are teneral, and the presence of a young larva in September suggests that imagos can occur also quite late in autumn. Despaxia asiatica inhabits small forest brooks, our specimens were caught at fast sections with gravel and stony substrate mixed with few sandy patches. Specimens were found in association one to three species ( Table 1 ).

Figures

Figs. 27-29. Type locality of Nemoura aquila Murányi and the distribution of the Korean endemics included in this paper. 27: type locality: Seorak Mts., Hangae-ryeong Pass; 28: substrate of the type locality brook; 29: known occurrences of Protonemura villosa Ham & Lee 1999 (■), Despaxia asiatica Zwick 2010 and N. aquila Murányi (○), and D. asiatica (●) (dark grey areas are above 500 m).

Figs. 37-38. Terminalia of the female adult of Despaxia asiatica Zwick 2010. 37: ventral view; 38: lateral view (scale 0.5 mm).