Neoperla emarginata, Stark & Sivec, 2015

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2015, New Species And Records Of Neoperla (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From India, Illiesia 11 (7), pp. 75-91 : 79

Neoperla emarginata sp. n.

( Figs. 4-6 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂, INDIA: Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur , 1600’ [ft. asl], September 1957, P.S. Nathan, ( USNM) . Paratype, 1♂ ( USNM). Same collection data as holotype .

Adult habitus. General color yellow brown with limited darker markings. Pattern obscure due to specimen condition.

Male. Forewing length 11.5 mm. Hemitergal processes of tergum 10 slender and curved gently laterad ( Fig. 4 ); tergum 8 bearing a mushroomshaped median sclerite armed with sensilla basiconica; anterior margin of tergum 8 thick and upturned under median process of tergum 7. Outline of tergum 7 process quadrangular in dorsal aspect; posterior margin bearing 6-8 thick spines. Tergum 9 bearing a pair of low mounds covered with sensilla basiconica; mounds located slightly laterad of hemitergal processes. Aedeagal tube sclerotized along ventral and dorsal margins, and slightly less so laterally; dorsal margin of tube bearing a concave subapical emargination ( Fig. 5 ). Aedeagal sac membranous, about as long as tube and rather sparsely armed with small triangular spines; small basal cluster of spines located ventrally just beyond tube apex is bordered by a short, bare distal section, followed by sparse groupings of small to minute spines over much of the inverted sac ( Fig. 6 ).

Female. Unknown.

Egg. Unknown.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name is based on the subapical emargination of the aedeagal tube.

Diagnosis. This species appears to be a member of the N. clymene group. It is distinguished from other members of the group by the unusual, almost quadrangular process on tergum 7, the poorly armed aedeagal sac and the distinctive subapical dorsal emargination on the aedeagal tube. The species does not appear closely related to others known from the Indian subcontinent.

Figures

Figs. 1-6. Neoperla male structures. 1-3. N. agumbe. 1. Head and pronotum. 2. Male terminalia, dorsal. 3. Aedeagus, lateral. 4-6. N. emarginata. 4. Aedeagus, lateral. 5. Male terminalia. 6. Aedeagal tube apex with sac partially everted.