Planaeschna poumai, Joshi & Kunte, 2017

Joshi, Shantanu & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2017, Two new dragonfly species (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) from north-eastern India, Zootaxa 4300 (2), pp. 259-268 : 263-266

Planaeschna poumai sp. nov.

( Figs. 3–4 )

Holotype. ♂ ( NCBS-AV 557 ), collected on the Senapati-Purul road near TNK village, Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.3756N, 94.2318E), 11.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg.

Paratype. ♂ ( NCBS-AV 585 ) and allotype ♀ ( NCBS-AV 568 ): upstream from Mayangkhang village , Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.2304N, 94.0066E), 14.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg.

Etymology. This species is named after the Poumai tribe, one of the larger extant Naga tribes in NE India, which predominantly inhabits the Senapati District of Manipur where the specimens were collected. There are no protected areas in this whole district, which makes community forests critical for biodiversity conservation.

Description of the holotype. Head ( Fig. 3 e). Labrum, labium, anteclypeus, postclypeus and frons yellow; mandibles brown; postclypeus with two faint brown markings; the crest of the frons and vertex black. Eyes dark green, in live specimens with blue in the center; postgenae marked yellow.

Thorax ( Fig. 3 d,f). Prothorax black, anterior edge of the mesostigmal plate yellow; propimeron greenish yellow. Synthorax with mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum marked with yellow; dorsal stripes on mesepisternum green, pointing outwards, faintly yellow at the antealar ridge; mesepimeron marked with a greenish yellow stripe, thinner towards the subalar ridge; a triangular spot below subalar ridge on the mesepimeron and a small spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron almost entirely yellow; both the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic stripes appear darker green towards the dorsal 1/3rd of its length in live specimens. Legs black; coxae and base of the femur marked with reddish brown; femur of the forelegs marked with yellow on the inside about half its length.

Wings. Hyaline; triangle 3-celled (2 in left hw); anal loop 6/7-celled; anal triangle 3-celled; antenodals: 19/ 20 in the fw (a short incomplete nervure present on the left fw between the 2nd and 3rd nervures), 14 in the hw; venation denser towards the apices.

Abdomen ( Fig. 3 a,d,f). Marked with citron-yellow and green; S1 laterally marked with triangular spot pointing anteriorly, dorsal carina with a yellow stripe; S2 dorsally with a yellow stripe disconnected at the transverse carina; PD edge with a horizontal yellow stripe, laterally with bright yellow AL and PL markings separated by the auricle, the AL marking continuing on the lateral side of the auricle; the auricle posteriorly dark brown; S3–S7 with paired MD spots situated anteriorly about 2/3rd the length of each segment; S3–S7 also with AD and PD yellow stripes on the dorsal carina, reaching the MD spots on S3 and S4; the AD marking reduced on S5–S7, more pronounced and broader on S3; S3–S8 with paired anterio-ventral round yellow spots, these spots continuing dorsally connect to the small ML spots on S3–S7 and the base of the supplementary transverse carina; the ventral spots perfectly rounded on S8; S8 and S10 with paired round black ‘depressions’ dorsally, S9 and S10 black.

Anal appendages ( Fig. 4 a,b,d). Cerci black; paraprocts black, the central groove and ventral area dark yellow. Cerci twice the length of S10, paraprocts about half the length of cerci. Laterally both cerci and the paraprocts are curved upwards, the cerci are broader and curved slightly more upwards caudal 3/5th of its length, pointed at the apex. The apical 2/5th is spatulate divided in the middle by a lateral ridge. Laterally, the base is thinner and the dorsal half is concave. Paraprocts gently curved upwards, the tip conical, pointing upwards. Dorsally, the anterior cerci are thinner, the outer margin is straight for 1/10th the length of cerci, curved inwards thereafter; the apical spine of the cerci is pointed outwards, sharply pointed. Paraprocts triangular, blunt at the apex.

Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.6, fw=33.9, hw=34.8.

Variation in the paratype (Anal appendages: Fig. 4 d). Paratype male is very similar to the holotype. The PD markings on S2 edge without a thin yellow stripe like on the holotype. Triangle 3 or 4 (right hw) celled, anal triangle 3-celled, anal loop 5-celled. Antenodals: 16/ 17 in the fw, 14/ 16 in the hw.

Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.5, fw=33.2, hw=33.7.

Description of the allotype ( Fig. 3 b–c, 4c). The specimen was accidentally decapitated while netting, and the head was lost in the stream beneath, hence the head is not described.

Thorax ( Fig. 3 c). Prothorax dark brown; the apex of the posterior lobe and the middle lobe black. Synthoracic markings very similar to the male; vibrant yellow-green. The propimeron, mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum bright yellow; the paired dorsal stripes on the mesepisternum curving slightly outwards at the anterior end; antealar edge marked with faint yellow spots; the mesepimeronic stripe broad and slightly angulated, thinner at the dorsal end with a triangular spot right next to it near the subalar edge; another spot directly above the triangular spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron marked almost entirely with bright yellowish green, ventral margin thinly brown; the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic markings appear more bright yellow towards the ventral half similar to the male. Legs black; coxae marked yellow posteriorly; basal half of the femur marked yellow posteriorly on the forelegs.

Wings. Antenodals: 13–14 in the hw, 19 in the fw. Base of the wings tinted yellow and the area near the node faintly yellow. Median space not traversed by any cross-veins. The triangle is made up of four cells in the hw and three cells in the fw. Pterostigma dark brown, spanning a little more than 2 cells.

Abdomen ( Fig. 3 b,c). S1 laterally marked with a broad yellow stripe, broader posteriorly; dorsally marked with a thin yellow line; S2 yellow laterally, small, brown, rounded marking on both sides resembling the markings in the area posterior to the auricle of males; a dorsal yellow stripe on S2, S3–S7 with yellow ventro-lateral anterior spots, PL longitudinal spots on S3–S5; S3–S7 with thin yellow AD and PD stripes on the carina disconnected at the center where paired triangular MD spots are present, smaller than the male; S8 marked yellow at the posteriordorsal edge; S8, S9 and S10 black, lower half is dark yellow continuing on to the vulvar scale.

Ovipositor ( Fig. 4 c). Covered with dry mud suggesting that the female had oviposited or attempted to so in muddy waters. The sternite and ovipositor dark-brown; ovipositor and style extend posteriorly till the base of cerci; cerci about the length of S10, pointed at the apex.

Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=47, fw=40, hw=42.

Diagnosis. The shape of male anal appendages and the abdominal pattern is similar to P. intersedens (Martin, 1909) , the only Indian species of this genus. P. poumai differs with respect to the following diagnostic characters: (a) in both sexes the abdominal pattern differs from P. intersedens in that the paired MD spots on S2 are not present, S9 and S10 unmarked with yellow dorsally, and the PD abdominal spots absent or reduced on S3– S10; (b) the lateral ridge divides the apex of cerci in equal proportions, whereas in P. intersedens the portion below the ridge is more expanded; (c) the posterior half of cerci is not as widely expanded as that in P. intersedens ; (d) the apical expansion of cerci laterally angled straight, not curved upwards like P. intersedens ; and (e) in both sexes of P. intersedens S2 is laterally yellow; but in P. poumai sp. nov. the lateral yellow markings on S2 of both males is broken posterior to the auricle; this lateral yellow stripe in the female is marked with a round brown spot. The reduced abdominal markings distinguish this species from all other Planaeschna species.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Planaeschna poumai sp. nov.; (a) dorsal habitus of holotype male (NCBS-AV 557), (b) dorsal habitus of allotype female (NCBS-AV 568), (c) lateral habitus of allotype female (NCBS-AV 568), (d) lateral habitus of holotype male (NCBS- AV 557), (e) face of holotype male (NCBS-AV 557, image credit: J. Veino & L. Veino), and (f) lateral habitus of holotype male (NCBS-AV 557, image credit: J. Veino & L. Veino).

FIGURE 4. Anal appendages of Planaeschna poumai sp. nov.; (a) dorsal view of holotype male (NCBS-AV 557), (b) left lateral view of holotype male, (c) left lateral view (ovipositor) of allotype female (NCBS-AV 568), and (d) left lateral view of paratype male (NCBS-AV 585).