Notoperlopsis femina Illies 1963

Mclellan, Ian, Miserendino, María Laura & Hollmann, María Eugenia Teresa, 2006, redescription of Notoperlopsis femina Illies, Zootaxa 1140, pp. 53-68 : 63-66

Notoperlopsis femina Illies 1963

( Figs. 21–30 )

Notoperlopsis femina Illies, 1963 pp. 158–161.

Illies (1963) described both the female and larva of this species but not the male. Here a revised description of female and larva are given and, for the first time, a description of the male.

Adult

Male. Body length 6.5–9.0 mm; forewing 4.0– 5.5 mm; antenna 6.0– 9.5 mm; cercus 3.5 mm. Short­winged with the wings terminating about Ab7­9. Body colour brown to dark brown. Head and antennal scape dark brown with a white patch centrally on frons, dorsal callosities black, antennal flagellum brown, antennal segments covered in short dark hairs.

Pronotum rectangular, pale and translucent. Mesonotum and metanotum dark brown. Forewing grey with scattered white patches giving a mottled effect; no crossveins in pterostigma; a long Rs fork with 2–3 crossveins; Cu1 not forked and an incomplete set of crossveins between Cu1 and Cu2. Hindwing almost transparent with fewer crossveins and five anal veins. Legs brown; femur and tibia with a darker brown bar distally, tibia with another proximally; no tibial spurs.

Genitalia from lateral aspect ( Fig. 21 ): Epiproct with ventral margin, from tip of ventral hook to base, straight and in line with the axis of body. Paraproct long, curved with rounded tip and membranous posteriorly in apical quarter. Genitalia from dorsal aspect ( Fig. 22 ): Tergite 10 central sclerite fused to anterior sclerite. Posterior sclerite short, peglike, brown, with a pale apex and situated within the posterior of the central sclerite. E piproct wide at base and tapered to a small rounded tip.

Female. Body length 10.0 – 12.5 mm; forewing 11.0– 12.5 mm; antenna 7–8 mm; cercus 4.0– 4.5 mm. Macropterous. Body colour brown to dark brown. Head and antennal scape dark brown with a white patch centrally on frons, dorsal callosities black, antennal flagellum brown, antennal segments covered in short dark hairs.

Pronotum ( Fig. 25 ) rectangular, brown with a pattern of dark markings. Mesonotum and metanotum dark brown. Forewing ( Fig. 23 ) mottled grey and white: 3–4 crossveins in pterostigma; a long Rs fork with 2–3 crossveins; Cu1 not forked and an incomplete set of crossveins between Cu1 and Cu2. Hindwing ( Fig. 23 ) almost transparent with scattered grey patches around the pterostigmatic crossveins and those in R1; crossveins present in the rest of the wing apart from in the anal field; six anal veins present. Legs ( Fig. 26 ) brown; femur and tibia with a darker brown bar distally, tibia with another proximally; no tibial spurs.

Abdominal segments and dorsal lateral and ventral sclerites of each segment divided from each other by substantial membranous areas. Cerci about 0.2X of body length. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 24 ) convex with a brown sclerotised patch parted by a pale subtriangular area. Subanal lobes almost trapezoid in shape.

Larva (final instar)

Body brown with head and legs covered with short minute setae. Epicranium brown and mottled darker brown; frons brown with small ocelli; antenna a paler brown, without visible hairs. Pronotum rectangular with rounded corners, scattered dark rugosities present.

Mesonotum and metanotum brown with darker markings at wingpad bases; hind margin of mesonotum convex but that of the metanotum almost straight. Legs brown with a proximal dark brown to almost black bar on the tibia; a fringe of hairs dorsally on femur, tibia and proximally on tarsus three; no tibial spurs. Ab1–9 cylindrical without pleural fold; Ab10 with a much rounded hind margin which in males has a small, ridged, medial sharp point. Cercus ( Fig. 28 ) thick at base and much tapered to thin tips; short pale hairs form a dorsal and ventral vertical fringe over the segments. Subanal lobes ( Fig. 30 ) almost trapezoid in shape. Anal gill rosette with many filaments.

Material examined

Holotype female, Lago Pellaifa, Prov. Valdivia, Chile (39º 35´S, longitude unavailable), 12 May 1958, Besch leg, (ILFS) (examined). 2 males, 1 female, Argentina, Chubut Province, Gualjaina River, 29 Sept 2004, M. L. Miserendino; 2 males, 2 females with attached spermatophores, Argentina, Chubut Province, Rifleros River, 13 Sept 2004, M. L. Miserendino; 4 larvae, Argentina, Chubut Province, Esquel Stream, 42º 54´S 71º 20´E, July 1990, M. L. Miserendino; 3 larvae, Argentina, Neuquén, Bariloche, Arroyo Ñireco, 31 May 1995, R. Albarino. 1 larva, Valdivia, Andes Chile, June 1956, J. Illies?

Remarks

Notoperlopsis femina are mainly associated with coarse substrates in piedmont rivers, the lower stretches of medium sized rivers draining the ecotone (mountain/steppe), or the steppe rivers. In the Rifleros River collection site, the riparian corridor has been completely invaded by the non native Salix fragilis L., a common situation in rivers draining grazed areas in Patagonia (Miserendino 2004). Comparing to other Plecoptera species N. femina seems to cope with a wide range of ecological conditions; however it is not present in polluted segment of river in the Cordillera (Miserendino & Pizzolon 2004). N. femina peaked in April (Fig. 32) and most of specimens were early larval instars. According to our observations the species is probably univoltine, most of mature larval instars appear in July, and imaginal emergence occurs from July to October.

Figures

FIGURES 21 – 26. Notoperlopsis femina. Adults. 21. Male genitalia, lateral. 22. Male genitalia, dorsal. 23. Right wings. 24. Female abdomen tip and cerci, ventral. 25. Head and pronotum. 26. Right hind leg.

FIGURES 27 – 30. Notoperlopsis femina. Larva. 27. Habitus. 28. Abdomen tip and cerci, lateral. 29. Right mandible and maxilla. 30. Abdomen tip, subanal lobes and anal gill rosette.