Phylolestes ethelae, Christiansen, K. A., 1947

Christiansen, K. A., 1947, A new genus and species of damselfly from southern Haiti (Odonata), Psyche 54, pp. 256-262 : 258-261

Phylolestes ethelae , new species

Synlestine in appearance with moderately slender body; coloration metallic green, bronze and black.

MALE.Fore wing 38 mm.; hind wing 36 mm. Head (across eyes) 7 ram. Thorax plus prothorax 9.5 ram. Abdomen, including the abdominal appendages, 56 ram. Greatest diameter abdominal segment 2 (excluding appendages) 2 ram., of segment 6, 1 ram., and of segment 9, 1.8 ram. Abdominal appendages 2 ram. long. Hind femur 6 ram., hind tibia 6 ram., mesothoracic femur 4.5 mm., mesothoracic tibia 5 ram., prothoracic femur 4 ram., prothoracic tibia 5 mm.

Head.­­Labium obscure yellow, darker at its forward edge and cleft for more than] its entire length. Labrum shiny black. Gene and postgenm yellow. Anteclypeus dull yellow, postclypeus metallic green. Frons and vertex metallic green. 0celli black. Occiput bronzy. Eyes (in dried specimens) brown. Basal segment of antennm with pale ring around distal half, remainder of antennm black. Rear of head black with metallic green reflections.

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Prothorax.­­Anterior lobe dull brown edged with:ellow. Lateral lobes dull yellow along inferior edges. Remainder of lateral lobes and the middle lobe dull bronze. Posterior lobe ridged and slightly curved along posterior margin. Posterior margin with a central roughly lunate depressed area. Color of posterior lobe dull bronze. Mesostigmal laminm terminate on both sides at the anterior end of the humeral suture in a low barely acute angled lobe.

Thorax.­­Mesepisternum black with metallic green reflections, an indistinct brown stripe originating at the

humeral suture above and curving inward and down to the collar. A narrow yellow stripe along the humeral suture running from the mesinfrmpisternum almost to the wing bases. Mesepimeron with small triangular yellow spot inferiorly tangent with mesepisternal yellow stripe. Remainder of mesepimeron brown with metallic green reflections rearward with the brown narrowing inferiorly. Metepisternum with a yellow hairline along 1 st lateral suture bordered by brown. A yellow stripe extends

along the second lateral suture. The remainder of the thorax is dull brown fading to yellow posteriorly. AnteaIar sinus black.

Wings.Postnodals in fore wing 18­?, hind wings 16­16; R3 arises five and one­half crossveins distad of subnodus in fore wing and four to four and one­half in the hind wings. Stigma somewhat trapezoidal and three times as long as broad; proximal vein strongly angulate. The stigma covers two cells with brace vein slightly distad of the proximal end of the stigma.

Legs. Coxm yellow, femora and tibim light brown darkening towards the joints. Tarsi and claws black. Claws with a definite basal tooth. Spines short and stout on the femora; a little longer than the intervening spaces on the base of the tibia, decreasing in length toward the tarsi.

Abdomen.The dorsum of segment one yellow basally, the remainder of the dorsum black with metallic green reflections, decreasing posteriorly. Ventrum obscure yellow. Anterior genital hamules roughly rhomboidal, yellow with black posterior edges. Superior abdominal appendages black, forcipate and simple, without any prominent spines or teeth. Inferiors rudimentary, consisting of small semicircular plates, dark brown in color. FEMALE.Length of fore wing 41 ram., hind wing 39 mm. abdomen 46 mm. long and somewhat stouter than that of the male. Other measurements as in holotype. Head.As in holotype.

Prothorax.Similar to the holotype except that the middle lobe is irregularly edged with black and the lateral lobes are inferiorly pruinose.

Thorax, ante­alar sinus, and mesostigmal laminm as in holotype.

Wngs.Similar to holotype except as follows, stigma covers three cells in the fore wing and is not so strongly trapezoidal, with the proximal vein being more nearly parallel to the distal vein. Brace vein is in line with the proximal bordering vein. Stigma three times as long as.

broad. Postnodal crossveins, fore wings, 19­18; hind wings, 15­15.

Abdomen.Brown with metallic green reflections, blackening towards the terminal segments. Genital valves deeply serrate with the serrations recurved and increasing in size posteriorly. Ovipositor small and completely hidden by the valves.

Holotype male, allotype female, 1 broken teneral male and 1 female paratypes, vicinity of La Visite, Laselle Mts. , HAITI, 4,000 ft. (Marston Bates). Museum of Com- parative Zoology, No. 27733 .

Not included in the type series is another male from the neighboring La Hotte range of Southern Haiti. This specimen has several differences from the Laselle specimens; however, the penis of the La Hotte specimen was badly damaged and in the portions remaining no differences were detected between it and the holotype. The observed variance between the other features is as follows

tIolotype Length 69 ram. Fore wing 33 mm. long Hind wing 38 mm. long La Hotte male

Length 58 ram.

Fore wing 36 mm. long

Fore wing 18­? Fore wing 19­18

Hind wing 16­16 Hind wing 14­ thoracic and abdominal markings are similar, but the metallic green is more pronounced in the La Hotte specimen, and the brown colors on the thorax of the holotype become metallic bronze on the La Hotte male. The abdominal appendages are similar except for a small knob on the dorso­interior surface which appears only in the La Hotte specimen.

14.. The

The poor condition of the La Hotte specimen and the small amount of available material make it impossible to say whether this La Hotte male represents another species of the new genus or only the normal variation for a species living in highly isolated areas.