Solter leopardalis Michel

Michel, Bruno, 2014, A revision of the genus Solter Navás, 1912 for Maghreb and West Africa with descriptions of five new species (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae), Zootaxa 3887 (5), pp. 529-554 : 534-540

4. Solter leopardalis Michel nov. sp.

Figs 16 –27, 66, 67.

Diagnosis. Medium-sized species ( Fig. 16 ). Forewing 28–29 mm, hind wing 25–26 mm. General dorsal coloration ochre yellow and light brown. Thorax laterally and ventrally yellow, abdomen ventrally ochre yellow. Unmistakable species, characterized by the narrow wings, the forewing crossveins black and the strongly spotted mesonotum ( Fig. 17 ).

Description (Based on 1 male, 2 females). Head ( Figs 17, 18 ). Labrum, clypeus and frons yellow with two black lines below antennae. Vertex rounded, shiny, yellow with a brown transverse streak upon antennae and brown horizontal and vertical markings dorsally. Tentorial pit narrow but conspicuous and deep ( Fig. 18 ). Last segment of labial palp slightly swollen with the apical part slender and almost as long as the enlarged part. ( Fig.19 ). Palpimacula small, pointed basally and more or less flat apically ( Fig. 19 ).

Thorax ( Fig. 17 ). Pronotum with three longitudinal lines more or less interrupted at transverse furrow, the lateral lines incurved medially. Cervical sclerite shiny black. Mesoscutum with about seven black markings, the two behind premesoscutum being lighter. Mesoscutellum with two anterior and one posterior black spots. Postnotum black, yellow medially and laterally. Metascutum with irregular lateral dark markings. Metascutellum with a posterior dark spot.

Legs slender. Entirely yellow. Tibial spurs extending beyond tarsomeres 2 in fore and mid legs and almost as long as tarsomeres 1+ 2 in hind legs ( Fig. 20 ).

Wings narrow, apices sub-acute. Pterostigma slightly darker basally. Forewings longitudinal veins pale, dark only at the connection with crossveins; crossveins black; 7–8 presectoral crossveins. Hind wings with 4–6 presectoral crossveins; some crossveins between Radius and RS black.

FIGURES 22–27. Solter leopardalis . 22—3rd instar larva, habitus, dorsal view. 23— idem, head, dorsal view. 24— idem, ventral view. 25— idem, abdominal sternites 7 to 9. 26—Exuvia of nymph, mandibles and labrum, dorsal view. 27—Biotope between Missour and Endjil, the red arrow shows the cavity where larvae were collected. (OT = ocular tubercle).

Abdomen. Tergite 1 ochre yellow. Tergite 2 dark, paler along anterior margin and laterally. Remainder of abdomen alternating ochre yellow and light brown bands. From tergite 2 covered with minute black setae. Posterior margin of sternite 7 of female largely concave with a stout median brown process ( Fig.21 ).

Male genitalia ( Figs 66–67 ). Gonarcus largely arched with dorsal edge serrulate. Parameres with a conspicuous backward flat projection and the inner edge of basal half with very close and parallel large forward projections.

Description of larva (Based on two 3rd instar specimens) (Figs 22–25).

Length of body 27 mm. General coloration pale yellow with darker areas and brown markings on head, thorax and abdomen (Fig. 22). Ventral surface entirely pale. Body covered with variably developed conical macrochetae with a pointed tip and a shrunken base that can be assimilated to dolichasters. All have the same general shape but are more or less tapered. Head capsule (Figs 23, 24) longer than wide with two posterior brown markings. Dorsal surface covered with black dolichasters in the basal half and with smaller translucent dolichasters in the distal half. Ventral surface covered with black setae decreasing in size from outer margin to discal area. Clypeo-labrum concave, bordered with black and white dolichasters between the bases of mandibles and dense smaller white dolichasters around base of mandibles. Antennae thin, with 12–14 flagellomeres. Ocular tubercle small but prominent. Labial palps equipped with small dolichasters. Mandibles as long as head capsule; the median tooth noticeably longer than the two other teeth, closer to apical tooth than basal tooth; distance between the base of the mandible and the basal tooth shorter than that between basal tooth and apex of mandible; 11–13 stout setae between base of mandible and basal tooth, 2–4 between basal tooth and median tooth and 1–2 between median tooth and distal tooth. Dorsal surface of mandible with some minute black setae on the basal half; ventral surface without setae. Thorax. Prothorax with two lateral brown markings contiguous to the lateral margin of pronotum. Pronotum yellow with two longitudinal lines, densely covered with black dolichasters, quite longer at the latero-anterior angles. Mesothorax with a small anterior process and a slightly developed posterior process bearing short and long black dolichasters. Mesothoracic spiracle slightly projected. Metathorax with two transverse darker markings, bearing an unconspicuous anterior process equipped with 4 dolichasters and a slightly convex posterior setiferous process equipped with dense and thin long setae. Legs pale in color; pro- and mid femora bearing long thin setae while the tibiae are mainly equipped with black small dolichasters. Inferior margin of posterior tibiae with a fringe of small black dolichasters. Abdomen covered with transverse rows of small black dolichasters, longer on the lateral processes. Sternite 8 without odontoid processes. Sternite 9 equipped with long black stout dolichasters. Apical margin bearing a rastra of four dolichasters of which the two internal are smaller (Fig. 25).

Nymph (based on exuvia) (Fig. 26). Inner edge of mandibles brown and serrulate with a stout apical tooth. Labrum with a median incision.

Material examined. Holotype ♂, MOROCCO, between Missour and Enjil [33.05495–4.13518], alt. 1037 m; stony and rocky area (reg) with Atractcylis sp. Larva collected on 15.viii. 2012 in fine sand inside a small cavity under a rock (Fig. 27); adult emerged on 04.viii.2013, B. Michel & A. François leg. Paratypes. same data as holotype, 1♂ emerged on 30.vii.2013; Missour, ECWP, 1♀ 11.viii.2011, alt. 954 m, at light, A. François leg. Larvae. Douirat [33.05665–4.13559] 23.iv.2014 alt. 1024 m. Burried in sandy soil inside a cavity under a rock overhang.

Ecological note. Solter leopardalis lives in arid regions of the Atlas Mountain. The larvae do not dig a pit-fall trap as typical for the genus. They develop buried in fine sandy soil accumulated in cavities formed between fractured rocks. (Fig. 27).

Etymology. Referring to the spotted coloration of thorax that resembles leopard fur.

Distribution ( Fig. 86 ). Known only from the region of Missour in the Atlas Mountains.

5. Solter liber Navás, 1912 Figs 28–33 , 68 , 80–82 .

Solter liber Navás, 1912: 33 .

Redescription. Medium-sized species ( Fig. 28 ). Forewing 26–31 mm, hind wing 23–28 mm. Labrum, clypeus and frons pale with a dark making above base of antennae, this marking weakened or absent in some specimens from Morocco ( Fig. 29 ). Last segment of labial palp slightly enlarged with a long apical part ( Fig. 30 ). Palpimacula variable, generally small and oval but sometimes narrowed and extended basally. Pronotum with a pair of anterior dots, a median posterior streak more or less V-shaped and two dots at each posterior angle. In some individuals only the dots of posterior angles are clearly marked. Meso and metascutum spotted ( Fig. 31 ). Tibial spurs as long as tarsomeres 1+ 2 in fore and mid legs, extending beyond tarsomere 1 in hind legs ( Fig. 32 ). Tarsomeres 3 and 4 generally darker. In male, gonarcus thick with two medio-lateral expansions ( Fig. 68 ). Basal half of inner edge of parameres raised forward, more strongly in the basal fourth. Sternite 7 of female as in figure ( Fig. 33 ). Canal of spermatheca long, of variable shape but sharply bent three times ( Fig 81, 82 ).

Material examined. Lectotype ♂ PORTUGAL San Fiel [approx. 39.86104–7.30700] S.J. Silvano leg, 1908 ( MNHN). SPAIN Rambla Roja (Almeria) [approx. 36.83902–2.46632] 1♂ 18.vii2011, F. Acevedo leg. (Facultad de Biología, Madrid); Tabernas (Almeria) [37.055555–2.39294] 1♀ 25.vii.1991, V. J. Monserrat leg. (Facultad de Biología, Madrid). MOROCCO Missour ECWP, alt. 954 m, at light, 1♂ 09.vi.2010; 1♀ 07.viii.2012.; 1♂ 15.viii.2009; 3♀♀ 18.viii.2011; 1♀ 21.ix.2011 A. François leg.; 2♂, 7♀♀ 15.viii.2012, at light, alt. 960 m, wadi with Tamarix sp., Phragmites australis , Retama sphaerocarpa bordered by a steppe with Helianthemum sp. and Moricandia suffruticosa, A. François & B. Michel leg.; 7♂♂, 2♀♀ 21.viii.2012, at light, alt. 963 m, reg with Hammada scoparia , Helianthemum sp., Artemisia herba-alba , over a wadi with Tamarix sp. A. François & B. Michel leg.; Zerouillet [33.57184–3.36577], 1♀ 22.viii.2012, at light, alt. 1096 m, steppe with Stipa tenacissima on a rocky and gullied slope, A. François and B. Michel leg.; Douar Boukhalfa [32.99467–4.04562] 1♂ 17.viii.2012, at light, alt. 904 m, side of wadi Moulouya, vegetation consisting of olive tree plantations, alfalfa, orchards, poplars and tamarisks, A. François and B. Michel leg.; between Ouled Ali and Ouatat el Haj [33.44759–3.96888] 2♀♀, 18.viii2012, at light, matorral (low groupings) with Rosmarinus officinalis , Stipa tenacissima , Moricandia suffruticosa , Juniperus phoenicea , Pinus alepensis , Olea europaea, A. François and B. Michel leg.

Larva. Badano et al. (2014) described the larva and provided information on its ecology.

Distribution ( Fig. 86 ). S. liber is a Mediterranean species with a wide area of distribution including Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Turkey. But as far as is known it is not present in Africa south of the Sahara since S. neglectus from Mali, synonymized with S. liber by Aspöck et al. (2001), is reinstated as valid species.

Remarks. The male genitalia figured by Aspöck et al. (1980) refer to S. naevipennis and not S. liber .

Figures

FIGURE 86. Distribution of the Solter species represented in the area covered by the study.

FIGURES 16 – 21. Solter leopardalis. 16 — Habitus of holotype ♀ (CIRAD-CBGP). 17 — Head and thorax, dorsal view. 18 — Face. 19 — Last segment of labial palp. 20 — Hind tarsus. 21 — Extremity of female abdomen, ventral view. (Legend as in fig. 5; ST = spermatheca; S 7 = extremity of sternite 7; t = median tooth of sternite 7).

FIGURES 61 – 67. Male genitalia of Solter spp. 61 — S. bouyeri, caudal view. 62 — S. dogon, gonarcus, dorsal view. 63 — idem, parameres, caudal view. 64 — S. francoisi, caudal view. 65 — idem, lateral view. 66 — S. leopardalis, caudal view. 67 — idem, caudo-lateral view. (ap = anterior projection of parameres; g = gonarcus; lp = left parameres).

FIGURES 28 – 33. Solter liber. 28 — Habitus of lectotype ♂ (MNHN). 29 — Face. 30 — Last segment of labial palp. 31 — Head and thorax, dorsal view. 32 — Hind tarsus. 33 — Extremity of sternite 7 of female. (Legend as in fig. 5).

FIGURES 68 – 73. Male genitalia of Solter spp. 68 — S. liber, caudal view. 69 — S. lucretii, caudal view. 70 — idem, frontal view. 71 — S. naevipennis, caudal view. 72 — idem, caudo-lateral view. 73 — S. neglectus, caudal view. (Legend as in figures 61 - 67; rp = right paramere).

FIGURES 74 – 80. 74 – 76. Male genitalia of Solter spp. 74 — S. neglectus, fronto-lateral view. 75 — S. rothschildi, caudal view. 76 — idem, lateral view. 77 – 80. Hypandrium internum. 77 — S. bouyeri. 78 — S. dogon. 79 — S. francoisi. 80 — S. liber. (Legend as in figures 61 – 67).

FIGURES 81 – 85. Spermatheca. 81 — S. liber specimen A. 82 — idem, specimen B. 83 — S. neglectus specimen A. 84 — idem specimen B. 85 — S. rothschildi.