Haploperla choui

Li, Weihai, Yao, Gang & Qin, Xuefeng, 2013, Haploperla choui sp. n. (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae), a remarkable new stonefly from Qinling Mountains of China, Zootaxa 3640 (4), pp. 550-556 : 550-555

Haploperla choui Li & Yao, sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 – 11 )

Adult habitus. Triocellate. General color dark brown patterned with pale brown. Head mostly dark with pale narrow lateral margins; compound eyes and ocelli black. Pronotum disc dark, wings pale, legs coxae and tibiae pale, femurs brownish and tarsi brown. The abdominal tergum 1 brown, terga 2 – 7 each with a quadrate medial marking forming a continuous longitudinal stripe ( Figs. 1 – 2 ). Cerci 11 segmented, black except 1st segment brownish to brown.

Male ( Figs. 1, 3, 5 – 10 ). Forewing length ca. 5.4 mm. Antennae brown except basal segments pale to light brown. Abdominal tergum 8 with pigmentation reduced to an anterior bar, tergum 9 mostly brown, a short, broad, brown posterior lobe extended apically, covered with long spines, a pale brown band present anterior to the lobe covered with shorter conical spines ( Figs. 5 , 7); epiproct dark brown.

Epiproct ( Figs. 5 – 8 ): Length ca. 60 μm (medially), greatest width ca. 160 μm, lateral sides ca. 120 μm. Epiproct triangular with broad triangular posterior indentation in dorsal view and plump in lateral view. Dorsum of epiproct with three irregular rows of warty and sharp spines arranged on posterior margins. Epiproct apex tongueshaped and smooth ( Fig. 7).

Aedeagus ( Figs. 5 – 10 ): Enlarged with a rounded, brownish, lower lobe laterally and a ventral patch of small to median-sized spines. A band of dense setae lies anterior to an upraised lobe ( Figs. 5 – 8 ). Ventrolaterally, a pair of sharp stylus originating from a hook shaped sclerite ( Figs. 9 – 10 ).

Female ( Fig. 2, 4 , 11 ). Forewing length ca. 6.2 mm. General pattern similar to males. Abdominal segments 8- 9 with broad median brown strip and tergum 10 entirely brown. Ventral surface and terminalia without markings. Subgenital plate brownish, produced apically as a short but broad flap covered with many long hairs.

Type Material. Holotype male (HIST), China: Shaanxi, Qinling Mountain, Huoditang of Pinglianghe Forestry Station at Ningshan County, 18.7070 N, 108.8247 E, 2012. VII.12, light trap, Weihai Li. Paratypes: 1 male and 1 female (CAU), 2 females (HIST), same data as holotype.

Etymology. The specific epithet honors the late Professor Io Chou, for his contributions to the knowledge of the stonefly fauna of China. Coincidently, the trip when the new Haploperla was collected was part of the conference organized in 2012 in memory of his Centennial Celebration.

Distribution. China (Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province).

Diagnosis. This species is characterized by the head mostly dark and pronotum disc dark and the abdominal terga 2 – 7 each with a quadrate medial marking forming a continuous longitudinal strip ( Figs. 1 – 4 ). The aedeagus has a subapical band of dense setae and a pair of sharp ventrolateral styli apically ( Figs. 5 – 10 ).

Remarks. The adults of the other three known Chinese species, H. lepnevae , H. valentinae , and H. ussurica , are not as darkly pigmented and lack a spinous posterior lobe on tergum 9 and the basal triangular indentation of the epiproct as found in H. choui . The epiproct outline of the new species is more similar to that of H. valentinae with an obtuse tip, but the dorsal surface of the former species is mostly bare and absent of the patch of setae and sutures (Stark & Sivec 2009, figs. 9 – 10). The details of the aedeagus are not described for H. valentinae and H. ussurica .

When compared with other Asiatic species ( H. japonica Kohno, 1946 ; H. lepnevae Zhiltzova, 1971 ; H. longicauda Zwick 1977 ; H. maritima Zhiltzova & Levanidova, 1978 ; and H. zwicki Stark & Sivec, 2008 ), H. choui apparently seems related to H. longicauda , a species known from Kingdom of Bhutan, sharing similar terminalia and two sharp styli on the aedeagus. Dr. P. Zwick kindly provided the authors an English translation of the original German description of H. longicauda . The head of this species is pale with brown macula on vertex and, a small spot on clypeus. The pronotum has a brown longitudinal band. Additionally, the abdomen has a wide brown middorsal stripe on terga 1-8. The dark color pattern of H. choui easily distinguishes it from H. longicauda . Also aedeagus of H. longicauda processes a pair of sclerotized lateral bars and lacks a full transverse band of dense setae (Zwick 1977, figs. 105-106). In addition, the posterior area of the tergum 9 is almost straight and less produced as in H. choui that forms an extended brown lobe.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Female terminalia of Haploperla choui sp. nov., ventral view.

FIGURES 1 – 6. Haploperla choui sp. nov. 1. Adult male habitus, dorsal view. 2. Adult female habitus, dorsal view. 3. Head and pronotum of male, dorsal view. 4. Head and pronotum of female, dorsal view. 5. Male terminalia, dorsal view. 6. Male terminalia, lateral view.

FIGURES 9 – 10. Haploperla choui sp. nov. (male) 9. Aedeagus, ventral view. 10. Aedeagal stylus, ventral view.