Neoperla schlitz Stark & Sivec, 2008

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2015, New Species And Records Of Neoperla (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From India, Illiesia 11 (7), pp. 75-91 : 81-83

Neoperla schlitz Stark & Sivec

( Figs. 9-14 )

Neoperla schlitz Stark & Sivec 2008a:5 .

Holotype ♂ (Zoological Museum Amsterdam), Chambra Peak area , Calicut District, Kerala, India

Material examined. INDIA: Karnataka, Agumbe Ghats , 13° 29.386’N, 75° 04.537’E, 9 October 2004, G. Svenson, light trap, 7♂, 3♀ ( BYUC) . Same site but 10 October 2004, canopy light trap, G. Svenson, 1♂ ( BYUC) . Same site but 11 October 2004, canopy light trap, G. Svenson, 1♂ ( BYUC) .

Comments. This species was previously known from the holotype male collected in Kerala, an Indian state adjacent to Karnataka. Because no female specimens were available for the previous study, and the head and pronotal pigment patterns were obscured in the holotype, we are adding these details below based on the current sample. The species is assigned to the N. montivaga species group of Zwick (1983, 1986); as Stark & Sivec (2008a) noted, the aedeagus of N. schlitz is quite similar to that of N. nitida ( Zwick 1981) , however males of the two species are readily distinguished based on the 7 th tergal processes (compare Fig. 12 in Stark & Sivec, 2008a with Fig. 3a in Zwick 1981). Remarkably, the eggs of these species may also be virtually identical unless the description of one or the other is based on an incorrect association. In the limited material available to us all the males with N. schlitz type terminalia displayed the unusual Vshaped brown area on the anteromedian frons ( Fig. 9 ) and this was also present in females we identified as N. schlitz . A few females without this marking, but with identical eggs present in the samples, were identified by us as N. nitida and are listed with that species above.

Adult habitus. General color pale yellow-brown. Head with a small dark spot between ocelli, a small V-shaped area on the anteromedian frons, lappets and antennal bases brown ( Fig. 9 ). Pronotum with a pale median band, but most of disc pale brown with darker rugosities. Wings pale amber, veins darker except pale C vein. Male with hair brushes on abdominal sterna 3-5 and more weakly on sternum 6.

Male. Described by Stark & Sivec (2008a).

Putative female. Forewing length 12-12.5 mm. Posterior margin of sternum 8 unmodified, or at most, slightly produced at midlength. Vagina a membranous bag with numerous concentric wrinkles on ventrolateral and anteroventral surfaces; dorsal surface consists of a dark sclerite. Receptacle membranous and lacking internal scales, sausage-shaped, attached to vagina by a slender stalk ( Fig. 10 ).

Putative egg. Outline oval without collar; length ca. 271 μm, equatorial width ca. 192 μm ( Fig. 11 ). Striae very slender, ca. 6-7 μm, closely packed and extending almost pole to pole ( Figs. 11-14 ). Lid reduced and sulci not visible in SEM preparations. Follicle cell impressions absent. Micropyles

17 18 19

subequatorial in position, orifices simple, but longer than wide ( Figs. 13-14 ).

Larva. Unknown.

Figures

Figs. 7-10. Neoperla adult structures. 7-8. N. orissa. 7. Male terminalia, dorsal. 8. Aedeagus, lateral. 9-10. N. schlitz. 9. Head and pronotum. 10. Vagina and receptacle.

Figs. 11-14. Neoperla schlitz eggs. 11. Entire egg, lateral. 12. Collar end. 13. Micropyle and chorionic detail. 14. Lid and micropylar zone.

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.