Tuberculobasis karitiana, Machado, Angelo B. M., 2009

Machado, Angelo B. M., 2009, Denticulobasis and Tuberculobasis, new genera close to Leptobasis, with description of ten new species (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)., Zootaxa 2108, pp. 1-36 : 23-24

Tuberculobasis karitiana sp. nov.

Figures 37–38

Etymology: The name refers to the Karitiana indian people who inhabit the municipality of Porto Velho where the holotype was collected.

Type specimens: Holotype (3): BRAZIL, Rondônia State, Porto Velho (8º46´S, 63º54´W), III 1963, W.C.A. Bokermann leg. (in a forest creek) ( ABMM).

Description. Male holotype.

Head. Labium whitish yellow. Genae, base of mandibles and labrum greyish green; anteclypeus and postclypeus black; antefrons greyish green; top of head black except for remnants of a pale stellate marking in front of the median ocellus, a poorly defined pale marking between the eyes and the lateral ocelli a yellowish occipital and postocular areas and a blue rounded postocular spot. Rear of the head yellowish white turning to yellowish blue near eyes.

Thorax. Prothorax: Dorsally brown, laterally greyish blue with a bluish area on anterior lobe. Pterothorax: mesopleuron brown, metapleuron yellowish. Blue stripes as follows: at posterior part of mesepisternum, at metepisternum and lateral part of metepimeron. Legs yellow, wings hyaline, venation light brown. Pterostigma brown surrounded with yellow; Px in FW 12; in HW 11–12; R3 originating near Px 6 in FW and near 5 in HW. Petiolation distal to Ac by a distance ½ length of Ac in FW and only slightly distal in HW.

Abdomen. Missing.

Structural characters. Hind prothoracic lobe with lateral and median lobes well-developed ( Fig. 37 ), the latter subtriangular and two-lipped. Posterior border of mesostigmal plate connected with mid-dorsal carina ( Fig. 37 ). Mesostigmal plates curved and directed anteriorly ( Fig. 37 ). Mesepisternal tubercles ( Figs 37–38 ) well separated from mid-dorsal carina, low (0.78 mm), in lateral view nipple-shaped, in dorsal view tearshaped with antero-lateral extremity tapering into a fine tip ( Fig. 37 ).

Dimensions (mm). HW 17.1

Female. Unknown.

Remarks. I hesitated in describing this species because of the missing abdomen. However, its thorax offers sufficient characters to distinguish it from males of all other known species of this genus. None of the 11 species of Tuberculobasis whose males have been described have tear-shaped mesepisternal tubercles and mesostigmal plates curved and directed anteriorly as does T. karitiana . Since the male of T. cardinalis from Peru remains unknown, T. karitiana might represent the male sex of T. cardinalis . However, I think this unlikely because T. cardinalis is much bigger. The size difference between female of T. cardinalis (HW 20 mm) and male of T. karitiana (HW 17 mm) is more than would be expected taking as reference the differences in size between males and females of the six species for which both sexes are known.

Figures

FIGURES 35 – 46. Tuberculobasis, male thorax in dorsal and lateral view: T. geijskesi, holotype (35, 36); T. karitiana, holotype (37, 38); T. mammilaris, Venezuela (39, 40); T. tirio, holotype (41, 42); T. yanomami, paratype (43, 44); T. macuxi, holotype (45, 46).