Cephalopsyche gorgona, Arefina-Armitage, Tatiana I. & Armitage, Brian J., 2010

Arefina-Armitage, Tatiana I. & Armitage, Brian J., 2010, A new caddisfly genus (Trichoptera, Odontoceridae) from Vietnam, ZooKeys 65, pp. 1-15 : 10-11

Cephalopsyche gorgona sp. n. Figs 13 A–B46A–B

Holotype male:

Vietnam: Quang Nam Province, Ngoc Linh, 1460 m, 15°11.2'N, 108°2.3'E, Malaise trap, March - April 1999, D. Grimaldi, L. Herman, C. Johnson, K. Long, E. Sterling. Paratypes: 2 males, 1 female, same data as holotype; 1 male, 2 females, same locality as holotype, 30 March 1999, K. Long, C. Johnson; 1 female, ibid., 950 m, 15°10'N, 108°5'E, Malaise trap, 30 March 1999, K. Long, C. Johnson.

Diagnosis.

Male of Cephalopsyche gorgona differs from that of Cephalopsyche neboissi by the very large head, by the Minoan bull horn-like bifurcation of segment X in dorsal view, and by the unequal size and shape of the ventromesal processes of the inferior appendages. Female of this species can be easily distinguished in sternite IX by the shape of the posterior fold on each lateral plate and by the flask-shaped mesal plate.

Adult. Male: forewings - 12.8-13.8 mm long, 4.0-4.4 mm wide; hind wings - 10.1-10.9 mm long, 2.9-3.2 mm wide. Female: forewings - 11.0-11.5 mm long, 3.4-3.5 mm wide; hind wings - 8.2-8.5 mm long, 2.6-2.7 mm wide. General color in alcohol yellow-brown to brown, with vertex darker. Thorax, lower portion of head, and legs of male brown to yellow-brown. Head of male with wart boundaries not distinct, posterior and antennal warts setal areas diffuse, frontal warts absent, posterolateral warts distinct, elongate, and subtending eyes. Head of male longer than wide; vertex heavily sclerotized, dark reddish-brown, abnormally enlarged, or swollen dorsoposteriorly (Fig. 1 A–C); covered with dense, pale hairs, oriented mesoanterad, which appear appressed to head surface. Swollen portion of head formed as a “chamber” lined with filamentous, columnar tissue (Fig. 1B); chamber split into two hinged halves along fissure down middle of head oriented with body axis. Row of dark spines (7-11 on each side of head) forming transverse row across vertex of head. Head of female (Fig. 1 D–E) with all setal warts distinct, frontal warts paired, antennal warts small and round, posterior warts elliptical, and posterolateral warts elongate. Male and female forewings elongate (Fig. 3 A–B), brownish, with a few vague small lighter spots scattered mostly anteriorly; hind wings slightly narrower and paler. Forewing discoidal cell very long (extremely long in male, starting near base of wing).

Male genitalia (Fig. 4): Segment IX stout, extended anteriorly slightly above midline of lateral sides. Dorsum of segment IX finely granular, subtriangular, with parallel lobes protruding posterad; lobes shorter than dorsum, finger-like, lightly sclerotized with a few long setae apically. Preanal appendages elongate, almost as long as maximum lateral width of segment IX, slightly broader subbasally and rounded apically in lateral view; almost oval in dorsal view, bearing scattered long, stout setae ventrally (Fig. 4B). Segment X well-developed, bifurcated, resembling Minoan bull horns, with acute tips pointed posterolaterad in dorsal view and posteroventrad in lateral view; a pair of oval, wart-like lobes located near base of segment X, each bearing 6-7 setae. Intermediate appendages extend slightly beyond lobes of segment IX dorsum, straight in dorsal view and slightly bent posteroventrally in lateral view; lightly sclerotized, each with rounded, well sclerotized apical area, possessing several setae. Basal segment of inferior appendages large, nearly elliptical in lateral view, 3 times as long as wide at base in lateral view, with two heavily sclerotized, spine-like, ventromesal processes; subapical process long, stout, equal in extent to apical segment of inferior appendages; second process short, with subapical notch in ventral view. Apical segment of inferior appendages short, straight in lateral view and slightly bent mesad in ventral view; bearing short, stout spines apically. Phallus with phallotheca sclerotized, long and cylindrical, bent ventromesally; endotheca short and membranous; phallotremal sclerite large; parameres absent.

Female genitalia (Fig. 6 A–B): Mesal plate of sternite IX large, flask-shaped; each lateral plate of sternite IX forms elongate, diagonal fold posteriorly. In lateral view, segment X long, elongate, near elliptical in shape.

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality in Quang Nam Province (Vietnam).

Etymology.

This species was named for the Gorgons, three sisters of Greek mythology (who bore snakes on their heads and turned anyone who stared at them into stone) because of the mass of filamentous, columnar tissue found under the hinged vertex of the head.