Perlesta etnieri Kondratieff & Kirchner, 2002

Grubbs, Scott A., 2012, An Amended Redescription Of The Male Of Perlesta Etnieri (Plecoptera: Perlidae) Plus New Perlesta State Records, Illiesia 8 (9), pp. 111-113 : 111-112

Perlesta etnieri Kondratieff & Kirchner

( Fig. 1 )

Perlesta etnieri Kondratieff & Kirchner 2002:51 .

Holotype ♂ (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution), Harpeth River , Millview , Williamson Co., Tennessee

Perlesta etnieri: Stark, 2004:92 .

Material examined. U.S.A., Tennessee, Grundy Co., Elk River , Rte. 50, 13 km N Monteagle, 35.3578, -85.8363, 28 May 2012, S.A. Grubbs, 2♂, 3♀ (WKU) .

Male. Same as Kondratieff & Kirchner (2002) and Stark (2004) except aedeagus very long and small in diameter, bearing a very small, rounded caecum; lateral sclerite very broad basally and tapering to a faintly visible line ( Fig. 1 ).

Comments. The aedeagus for this species is unique among the 30 Nearctic Perlesta species in that it is (a) very long and exceptionally small in diameter, and (b) the caecum is very small. The caecum of P. etnieri is markedly smaller even when compared to other species (e.g., P. nitida Banks 1948 and P. lagoi Stark 1989 ) that seemingly bear a small caecum. Perlesta etnieri has two additional distinctive characteristics: a near fully-punctate egg lacking a collar ( Kondratieff & Kirchner 2002, Fig. 6; Stark 2004, Fig. 7.402) and an X-shaped ocellar patch clearly visible on both the adult male and female ( Kondratieff & Kirchner 2002, Fig. 1 ; Stark 2004, Fig. 7.313). This species cannot be mistaken with any of the other four Perlesta congeners ( P. adena , P. decipiens ( Walsh 1862) , P. lagoi Stark 1989 , and P. teaysia ) known from the middle Tennessee region.

The combination of the four unique morphological characteristics, however, also makes it very difficult to ascertain relatedness to other Perlesta species. Although the presence of the caecum is evidence that this species does not belong in the P. frisoni “group”, robust phylogenetic analyses using modern molecular techniques (e.g. mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequencing) are needed to better understand species relationships within the genus as a whole.

Figures

Fig. 1. Perlesta etnieri. Male aedeagus, lateral view.