Aquatica wuhana, Fu, Xinhua, Ballantyne, Lesley & Lambkin, Christine L., 2010

Fu, Xinhua, Ballantyne, Lesley & Lambkin, Christine L., 2010, Aquatica gen. nov. from mainland China with a description of Aquatica Wuhana sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae), Zootaxa 2530, pp. 1-18 : 8-15

Aquatica wuhana sp. nov.

Figs 27–49

Type. Male. CHINA. Hubei Province 30.5°N, 114.3°E, E Jia Bian Village, Jiang Xia District, Wuhan City, 28. v.2008, sweeping, X.H. Fu (NHMHAU).

Paratypes (38 males, 9 females). CHINA: Hubei Province. Wuhan: Luo Jia Shan, Wuchang June 2, 1952 Lianbi Li, 2 males; August 12, 1953 4 males; Shi Zi Shan, July 4, 1963, male. Ying Shan, Suizhou City, 1958, male. E Jia Bian Village, Jiang Xia District, May 28, 2008 Xinhua Fu 20 males, 6 females. E Jia Bian Village, Jiang Xia District, July 14, 2008 Xinhua Fu 10 males, 3 females (NHMHAU).

FIGURES 27–37. Aquatica wuhana sp. n. male (27–28, 32–37), female (29), larva 30, 31. 27 dorsal, 28, 29 ventral whole body. 30, 31 dorsal and ventral body, anterior end to top of page). 32–35 aedeagus ventral, right lateral, dorsal and 35 detail BP from above. 36, 37 aedeagal sheath dorsal and ventral (arrows indicate lateral projections of margins of sheath sternite). Scale line is 1 mm.

Diagnosis. Superficially similar to A. lateralis , which is recorded only from Russia and Japan, and A. hydrophila , which is known presently only from Taiwan; pronotum yellow with anterior dark marking which does not reach posterior margin ( A. lateralis with a reddish pink or yellowish pronotum with a median dark band extending from anterior to posterior margins but the pronotum of A. hydrophila lacking a median dark mark); apices of LL not inclining towards median line (thus not inturned) or hooked, ( A. hydrophila aedeagus lacking the inturned and hooked apices but that of A. lateralis inturned and slightly hooked on their inner margins); inner dorsal margins of LL bases not toothed ( A. lateralis is the only species of Aquatica with inner dorsal margins of LL bases toothed); basal half of ML bulbous; aedeagal sheath with posterior area of sternite relatively broad, and apically rounded ( A. lateralis aedeagal sheath with a very narrow posterior margin of sternite, which is apically shallowly emarginate). Females macropterous, coloured like males except for the terminal abdomen.

Description. Male: 6.6–7.2 mm long; 2.7–2.9 mm wide; width/length 0.4–0.5. Colour (Figs 27, 28): Pronotum pale, whitish to orange-yellow, semitransparent with underlying fat body clearly visible, and brown marking extending from anterior margin posteriorly for ½ – 2/3 median pronotal length; lateral margins of brown area slightly sinuate, posterior margin narrowing to a fine point; mesoscutellum and mesonotal plates pale whitish to orange-yellow; elytra black, suture very narrowly pale orange, pale colour does not extend to apex; head antennae and palpi almost black, flagellomeres 9–11 slightly pale on apical under surface; venter (Fig. 28) of pro and mesothorax pale orange, of metathorax dark brown in median area; fore and mid legs with pale orange coxae, trochanters and femora, and basal 1/5 tibiae, remainder of tibiae and tarsi very dark brown; hind legs coloured similarly except for brown anteromedian face of coxae; basal abdominal ventrites and tergites very dark, almost black; LO in V6 and 7 waxy white, posterior area of V7 semitransparent; T 7, 8 pale semitransparent. Pronotum: 1.3–1.4 mm long, 2.1–2.2 mm wide, width/length 1.6–1.7; 1/5 as long as total body length; wider across posterior area than rest, pronotal width less than humeral width; anterolateral corners rounded obtuse; lateral margins in anterior half divergent, lateral margins in posterior half either subparallel-sided or diverge very slightly along their length; posterolateral corners rounded obtuse, and inclined obliquely to median line; posterolateral corners not projecting as far as median posterior margin and separated from it by a very shallow emargination. Anterior area of hypomeron not flattened; posterior area of hypomeron narrowly flattened but dorsal and ventral surfaces not close. Elytron: 5.7–6.2 mm long; no interstitial lines as well defined as suture (inner two lines visible but not well elevated); in horizontal specimen viewed from above anterior portion of epipleuron visible at sides of elytron anterior to posterior margin of mesoscutellum. Head: GHW 1.6–1.7 mm; SIW 0.3–0.4 mm; SIW/GHW 1/4; ASD = ASW (measured along the same line), moderately depressed between eyes; moderately exposed in front of pronotum, not capable of complete retraction within prothoracic cavity; eyes above labrum close. Antennae length> GHW, and <twice GHW. Abdomen: LO in V7 reaching sides and retracted from posterior margin so LO occupies 2/3 of V7; LO present in V6, entire and occupying all V6; median posterior area of V7 symmetrical, apex rounded, entire. Aedeagal sheath (Figs 36, 37) with posterior half of sternite relatively broad, scarcely emarginated along its left side, toothed along both left and right side as for A. leii (arrows in Fig. 37), and posterior margin slightly produced and rounded. Aedeagus (Figs 32 – 35) length/width 3/1; LL width/ML width 2.6; LL apices slightly obliquely truncate on their outer edges; dorsal base of LL symmetrical, neither excavated nor produced. ML symmetrical, base twice as wide as elongate and slender apical half with apex rounded and slightly inclined ventrally; BP (Fig. 35) narrowly sclerotised along anterior margin bearing two fine rounded projections.

Female (Figs 29, 42–43): 6.5–8.6 long; 2.7–3.3 mm wide; width/length 0.3–0.4. Macropterous, stout bodied, and assumed capable of flight; colour similar to male differing in light organ restricted to V6 only, and pale semitransparent nature of V7 (under which fat body is clearly visible; this may give the impression that the light organ is in two segments) and V8. Similar to male, differences include: Pronotum: 1.3–1.4 long, 2.7– 3.3 mm wide; 0.2–0.3 as long as body length; 0.7–0.8 width length; median anterior margin broadly rounded beyond the rounded anterolateral corners; lateral margins diverge gently posteriorly along their length; most of surface convex, slightly depressed narrowly along posterior margin. Head: of winged female form (eyes are smaller than those of male; if head held so labrum is horizontal, clypeolabral suture is behind anterior eye margins), GHW 1.3–1.5 mm; SIW 0.4–0.5 mm; may be retracted completely into pronotal cavity in repose and in this condition not visible from above. Light organ: occupying the whole of V6 only; V7 not heavily sclerotised, lacking any external developments (transverse ridge, lateral mounds), broad, and very shallowly emarginate along its posterior margin; V8 narrower than V7, lateral margins converge posteriorly, and not emarginate along its posterior margin; tergite seven not well sclerotised and lacking any external developments such as mounds or ridges.

Female genitalia: with long slender valvifers and relatively broad basal portions of valvifers and coxites.

Larva (Figs 30, 31, 44–49): Very similar to larvae of A. leii ( Fu & Ballantyne 2006) and A. hydrophila ( Jeng et al. 2003) , differing in details of dorsal colour patterns. Colour: Dorsally very dark grey in regions of hardened dorsal plates bearing pale markings as follows: protergum pale in anterolateral and posterolateral portions ( A. leii with anterolateral pale markings only; A. hydrophila lacking pale markings); thoracic terga 2, 3 and abdominal terga 1–7 with pale markings at posterolateral corners and along posterior margin to each side of median line (these markings are confluent in thoracic terga 2 and 3) ( A. leii and A. hydrophila lacking such pale markings); abdominal tergum 8 and 9 with pale lateral margins, lacking posterior median pale areas; membranous regions pale grey, dorsal plates appearing mottled as pale insertions of dorsal hairs; punctures on dorsal plates evenly distributed over entire surface; ventrally mid grey; a narrow median line running from the anterior margin of thoracic tergum 2 to the posterior margin of abdominal tergum 7. Head: with mandibles lacking inner teeth; both terminal segment of antenna and adjacent sense cone elongate slender. Protergum with slightly rounded anterior and posterior margins, lateral margins straight and diverging slightly posteriorly, all corners rounded; no median line. Thoracic terga 2 and 3 with a narrow median line tapering posteriorly and lacking lateral ridges, posterior margin gently indented in region of mid line, corners rounded and lateral margins in anterior 1/3 converging; thoracic terga 2 and 3 subequal in length, at least tergum 2 longer than abdominal terga. Abdominal terga 1– 8 of similar form to that of thoracic terga 2, 3, with well defined median line, but diminishing slightly in both length and width towards tail; abdominal tergum 9 lacking median line, lateral margins converging anteriorly, posterior margin rounded as are posterolateral corners. Ventrally a lateral pleural suture delimiting laterotergites in the thorax and abdomen; transverse subdivisions of the ventral surface of the meso and metathorax attributed to the sternum in each segment, and each of these segments bearing paired laterotergites with the anterior pair in the mesothorax bearing spiracles; the ventral area of abdominal segments 1 to 7 with a median subrectangular sternal area, margined by elongate narrow paired and pigmented laterosternites, delimited by folds from both the laterotergites above and the median sternal plate below; segments 1–8 with single laterotergites at each side, and from these plates arising the gills (subdivisions of the ventral abdominal plates are not clearly defined on Fig. 31). Forked tracheal gills present. Pale white, forked eversible organs organs located laterally on the meso- and metathorax and above the tracheal gills on each of 8 abdominal segments. Larval instars 1–6 all possess eversible organs. External surfaces of eversible organs with numerous flower-shaped protuberances equipped with 2–7 long apical spines. Protuberances with different apical spines appear on the same eversible gland.

Etymology. The species is named for its type locality.

Remarks. This new species was noticed first in collections because of its distinctive dorsal colouration, and subsequently freshly collected material was determined to be the same species. The presence of flying adults close to rice paddies led the senior author to investigate further and he collected eggs and reared the larvae. The adult male colouration of dark brown elytra, and pronotum with an anterior dark mark resembles both L. curtithorax Pic and L. roseicollis Pic , neither of which has been recorded as aquatic. Pic (1933) probably described L. roseicollis from a female and suggested an overall similarity with L. impolita Olivier from Taiwan, which has subsequently been assigned to Curtos ( Jeng et al. 1998) . We are indebted to Ming- Luen Jeng who characterised certain features of the similarly coloured L. curtithorax and enabled us to arrive at our conclusion that this is a new species.

Male adults of A. wuhana sp. n. appear superficially very similar to L. curtithorax Pic in dorsal colouration differing most obviously by the shape of the aedeagal sheath (the posterior half of the sheath is broader and the anterior margin of the tergite is broadly emarginate, not produced), and the nature of the aedeagus ( Jeng et al. 2003). L. curtithorax aedeagus conforms to the patterns of L. italica as defined by Ballantyne and Lambkin (2009) where the lateral lobes are separate along most of their dorsal length, with broad apical areas that enfold the sides of the median lobe (which is narrower at its apex than its base), and anteriorly directed pointed projections that arise from the inner ventral margins of the lateral lobes and project either below or above the sides of the median lobe. A. wuhana sp. n. aedeagus lacks the expanded apices of the lateral lobes and the anteriorly directed projections along their inner ventral margins.

While it was thus a fairly simple matter to distinguish this aquatic species from other already described aquatic species (see Jeng et al. 2003), we also examined carefully any species from SE Asia where the adult males were described with dark elytra and median dark pronotal markings. Since so few larvae have been associated with adults it was very possible this species had already been described but its aquatic affinities overlooked. Ballantyne and Lambkin (2009) characterized six Atyphella species, and Magnalata carolinae , with this pattern, none from SE Asia. Japanese species including L. cruciata and L. owadai differ both in pronotal colouration, extent of base of elytral epipleuron, and aedeagal sheath and aedeagus structure ( Ballantyne & Lambkin 2009). L. horni Bourgeois 1905 from Ceylon was described with a pronounced elytral ‘costa’ and probably belongs in Curtos . L. laticollis Gorham from Java is small (6.5 mm long) with black elytra having narrow pale margins.