Sphaeronemoura poda Sivec & Stark, 2010

Qian, Yu-Han, Xiang, Jin-Hong & Bai, Xue, 2024, A new species and a newly record species of Amphinemurinae from Yunnan, China (Plecoptera, Nemouridae), Zootaxa 5447 (3), pp. 405-412 : 409-410

Sphaeronemoura poda Sivec & Stark, 2010 (New record for China)

Figs. 12–21

Sphaeronemoura poda Sivec & Stark, 2010 . Denisia 29:371.

Type locality. Thailand, Phitsanulok Province, Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park .

Material examined. 1 male, 1 female: CHINA, Yunnan, Dali, Binchuan County, Lawu Village , N 25.822728°, E 100.807883°, 1430 m, 29.XI.2018, leg. Xu-Bo Wang ( SWFU) . 1 male, 1 female: CHINA, Yunnan, Dehong, Yingjiang County, Nabang Town , N 24°37′14.48″, E 97°38′19.09″, 1351 m, 10.Ⅰ.2019, leg. Yu-Han Qian, Jin-Hong Xiang ( SWFU) .

Adult habitus ( Figs. 12 ). Head black and smooth, compound eyes black and protruded; antenna slender and dark with hair. Pronotum dark brown, trapezoid, wider than longer, rugosities scattered. Wings macropterous, light brown, veins dark brown, margins of wings fringed with short bristles. Legs dark brown.

Female ( Figs. 20–21 ). Forewing length 10.2–11.0 mm, hindwing length 8.5–9.0 mm (n=2). Body coloration and the cervical gills are similar to the male. Pregenital plate on sternum VII, nearly semicircular and brown, posterior margin concave slightly and medial field membranous. Subgenital plate brown, forming two small transverse sclerites; the sclerotized portions of the vaginal lobes rectangular, posterior margin with some short transverse stripes. Sternite IX brown, with a little membranous indentation on the middle of the anterior margin.

Distribution. China (Yunnan); Thailand.

Remarks. The two males collected in Yunnan Province ( Figs. 13–19 ) agreed well with the holotype illustrations from Thailand (figs. 5–7 in Sivec & Stark, 2010). Strong similarities were found on tergum X, the lobes of the paraprocts, and the strongly curved epiproct flagellum. The apex of flagellum is somewhat foot-shaped in the Thailand type and Dehong of Yunnan specimen ( Figs. 17–19 ), but the Dali specimen shows some minor variation ( Figs. 14–16 ). The Thailand type locality is in the Lancang (Mekong) River system, while the Dehong specimen comes from the Dulong (Irrawaddy) River system. Both rivers originate in the Tibetan Plateau and have many tributaries flowing south into the Indochina Peninsula. Alternatively, the Dali specimen comes from the south bank of the hot, dry valley of the Jinsha River. The watershed of this river is not developed. The slight variation of the epiproct flagellum may be the result of geographical isolation from other variants.

The biodiversity and endemism of stoneflies is high in the southwestern mountainous regions of China. The discovery of S. poda in Yunnan has extended its range northward by 1000 km. Across these three locations S. poda occupies elevations from 1200–1500 m asl. Several other species known from the three parallel rivers region in northwest Yunnan probably exist further south in the highest elevations of Thailand.

Figures

FIGURES 12. Sphaeronemoura poda Sivec & Stark, 2010. Adult, dorsal view.

FIGURES 13–21. Sphaeronemoura poda Sivec & Stark, 2010. 13. Male prothorax, cervical gills, ventral view; 14. Male terminalia, dorsal view; 15. Male terminalia, ventral view; 16. Male terminalia, lateral view; 17. Male terminalia, dorsal view; 18. Male terminalia, ventral view; 19. Male terminalia, lateral view; 20. Female prothorax, cervical gills, ventral view; 21. Female terminalia, ventral view.