Leuctra cedrus Vinçon, Dia & Sivec, 2014

Vinçon, Gilles, Dia, Aref & Sivec, Ignac, 2014, A New Stonefly From Lebanon, Leuctra Cedrus Sp. N. (Plecoptera: Leuctridae), Illiesia 10 (1), pp. 1-5 : 1-4

Leuctra cedrus Vinçon, Dia & Sivec

Material examined. Holotype male: northern Lebanon, western slope of Lebanon Mount , Abou Aali water basin , Ouâdi Qâdîcha tor. , 500 m above Bcherré vil., 1500 m a.s.l., 24.04.1996, deposited in the Zoology Museum of Lausanne ( ZML) (type locality = 4 th site from top of map on Fig. 1 ). One female paratype, El Kebir water basin: near Jabal Qammouaa Mount, Oudine vil., Nsara rheocren spr., 1440 m, 20.03.2008, 1♀ ( ZML) (1 st site from top on Fig. 1 ).

Other material (from north to south on Fig. 1 ): El Bared water basin: 2 km from Sir El Danniyeh vil., El Ksaim spr., 1050 m, 20.04.1997, 1♀ (DIA). Source Sir, 29.03.1997, 1♂ (PMSL). Abou Aali water basin: Qâdîcha tor., 500 m> Bcherré vil., 1500 m a.s.l., 24.04.1996, 1♂ (VIN); 20.02.1996,? 1 larva (PMSL); 9.03.1997, 2♂, 1♀ (PMSL). Ibrahim water basin: 5 km N. Afqa vil., Rouais spr., 1300 m, 9.03.2002, 1♂ (PMSL). Aouali (Awali) water basin: Aouali River at Jdaidet ech Choûf bridge, 710 m, 18.02.1982, 1♀ (PMSL); near El Moukhtàra village, rheocren karstic spr. (Mourched spr.) and Qachàqich br., 800 m, 19.01.1980, 1♂ exuviae (PMSL); between Hâret Jandal et de Bâter ech Choûf vil., rheocren karstic spr. (Abou Kharma) and Ouâdi el Blaiyet br., 850 m, st 11, 19.01.1980,? 1 larva; near Jezzîne, Aazibi spr. and Nahr Aaray tor., 990 m, st 13a, 5.03.1980,? 1 larva (PMSL); 11.4.1982, 1♀ (DIA).

Description. Medium sized Leuctra species : ♂ body length 4,5-7 mm, ♀ 6,5-7,5 mm. Fore wing length ♂ 5- 6,8 mm, ♀ 7 mm. General colour brown. Head brown, slightly darker on the front. Antennae blackish, covered with a crown of long erect bristles at the tip of each segment; bristles as long as segment width. Pronotum brown with dark pattern. Legs yellow but tarsi, basal and distal parts of femora and tibiae contrastingly dark brown; tarsal segments brown. Body, veins of wings and legs covered with long erect hairs.

Male abdomen. ( Figs 2 a-c): tergites I-VI simple, tergites VII-X modified. Tergite VII slightly bulged in lateral view ( Fig. 2b ) and with narrow posterior membranous stripe ( Fig. 2a ). Tergite VIII with dark trapezoidal process widening distally and supported by two strong arms hardly prominent in lateral view ( Figs 2 a-b) and slightly separated in two parts by a small posterior triangular incision more or less visible according to the specimen. Tergite IX: antecosta divided for nearly a third of segment’s width; membranous median field with median butterfly-shaped sclerite. Tergite X anteriorly bilobed and with wide rounded posterior notch where epiproct is placed. Cerci rather short, covered with long erect setae. Epiproct rounded with short stalk ( Fig. 2a ). Styles of paraprocts with rounded base and long thin expansion gently curved toward tip ( Figs 2 b-c). Specilla long and thin, clearly longer than styles, rectilinear near the base and progressively curved toward tip, ending in sharp point ( Figs 2 b-c). Sternite IX: vesicle normal sized, racket shaped ( Fig. 2b ).

Female abdomen. ( Fig. 3 ): sternite VII with wide bellshaped bulged median sclerite and two small comma-shaped sclerites near the anterior edge, laterally. Sternite VIII: subgenital plate less long than wide, with sinuate edges, conspicuous median swelling, and two posterior well developed lobes separated by a large notch, about as wide as the width of one lobe ( Fig. 3 ). Lobes trapezoidal, strongly widening toward tip and with well-developed inner rounded expansions; posterior edge of the lobes nearly rectilinear. Plate poorly sclerotized medially except strongly sclerotized lobes ( Fig. 3 ).

Affinities. In the L. hippopus group, L. cedrus sp. n. appears rather isolated. The strong median process of tergite VIII is similar to that of several species: L. holzschuhi Theischinger, 1976 from Iran, L. meyi Braasch, 1981 from Caucasus, L. transsylvanica Kis, 1964 from Carpathians, L. joosti Braasch, 1970 from Balkans, L. niveola Schmid, 1947 and L. queyrassiana Ravizza & Vincon, 1991 from the Alps, however it is clearly different in shape from all of these and the genitalia are also obviously different. In the female, the rounded well developed lobes of the subgenital plate are similar to that of L. elisabethae Ravizza, 1985 , but the tip of the lobes are conspicuously wider in L. cedrus sp. n. ( Fig. 3 ).

Geographical distribution and ecology. L. cedrus sp. n. is a micro-endemic, cold stenothermal species confined to karstic rheocrene springs and torrents on the western slope of Mount Lebanon ( Figs. 1 , 4 ). The flight period extends in early spring (II-IV).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to the Lebanese highly symbolic tree Cedrus libanicus.

Figures

Fig. 1. Map of Lebanon, with the collecting sites for Leuctra cedrus sp. n.

Figs. 2a-c. L. cedrus sp. n.: male abdomen in dorsal view (a), lateral view (b), paraprocts in ventral view (c).

Fig. 3. L. cedrus sp. n.: female subgenital plate in ventral view.

Fig. 4. Main rheocrene springs and torrents where L. cedrus occurs: a = Ouâdi Qâdîcha torrent, Abou Aali tributary, 1500m (type locality); b = El Ksaim spring, El Bared tributary, 1050; c= Rouais spring, Ibrahim tributary, 1300m; d = Aouali River at Jdaidet ech Choûf bridge, 710m.