Leptohyphes peterseni Ulmer 1920

Baumgardner, D. E. & Mccafferty, W. P., 2010, Revision of the genus Leptohyphes Eaton (Ephemeroptera: Leptohyphidae) in North and Central America, Zootaxa 2360 (1), pp. 1-33 : 22-23

Leptohyphes peterseni Ulmer 1920

Ulmer, 1920:46; Needham and Murphy, 1924:32; Traver, 1958; McCafferty, 1985.

Diagnosis: Because of the limited descriptions published for this species and others in the adult stage, it is not possible to definitively diagnosis this species from other adult Leptohyphes . Traver (1958) stated that the yellowish-brown thoracic nota with several rows of dark blotches on the abdominal segments will separate it from others in the genus.

Description: Length. Body, 4–6 mm; forewings, 4.0–5.0 mm; hind wings, 1.0–1.5 mm. General coloration yellowish-brown. Head: light yellowish-gray with black shading. Thorax: yellowish-brown. Legs: light yellowish-gray with darker markings. Forewing: vein CuP not strongly curved towards A; vein ICu 2 united basally with ICu 1; ICu 1 attached basally to CuP and CuA by cross vein; MP 2 united basally to CuA and IMP by cross veins. Hind wing: present, with two longitudinal veins; costal process well developed. Abdomen. yellowish-brown. Genitalia: forceps three-segmented, penes with basal half fused, distal parts divergent, “Y” shaped.

Larva: Unknown.

Distribution: Leptohyphes peterseni has been documented in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, El Salvador, and Guatemala ( Ulmer, 1920; McCafferty, 1985).

Discussion: The above description is based upon Ulmer’s (1920) original description, with additional comments from Traver (1958). The current location of the type specimens is unknown, despite attempts to locate them during this current study. Molineri (2003) was not able to locate the type specimens in his study of the South American leptohyphids.

Leptohyphes peterseni constitutes the first description of a male of Leptohyphes . Ulmer (1920) assigned it to this genus because the wing venation was similar to that of the female of L. eximius (type species of the genus).

Molineri (2003) noted that the type series of this species is represented by numerous male and female subimagos, probably representing more than one genus. Ulmer (1920) described some males of the type series with penes not divergent at the tip, a situation not known to occur in the genus Leptohyphes , but known from other males in other leptohyphid genera. In addition, the divergent penes of Leptohyphes species are always well separated in the adults, as well as the subimagos.

Traver (1958) noted the similarity between L. peterseni and L. sabinas , and stated that sabinas could be considered the northern counterpart of peterseni . Molineri (2003) speculated that L. plaumanni might be a synonym of L. peterseni , based upon similarity between male genitalia. However, with numerous species of Leptohyphes not described as adults, a synonym would probably be premature.

Type material examined: None.

Other material examined: None.