Thalerosphyrus Eaton, 1881

Sartori, Michel, 2014, The species of Thalerosphyrus Eaton, 1881 (Insecta, Ephemeroptera, Heptageniidae, Ecdyonurinae) in Java and Sumatra, with some comments on the diversity of the genus in the Oriental Realm, ZooKeys 420, pp. 19-39 : 21-23

Taxon classification Animalia Ephemeroptera Heptageniidae

Thalerosphyrus Eaton, 1881

Nymphal diagnosis.

Medium to large Heptageniidae (up to 20 mm) with contrasting color patterns.

Head broad and thickened anteriorly (Figs 2, 5, 8); labrum (Figs 16-17) small, wider than long, without conspicuous median incision; mandibles (Figs 18-19) with outer margin covered with numerous thin setae, outer and inner incisors subequal in length, outer one saw-like on both sides, inner one trifid, left mandible with tuft of setae above mola; maxillae with 3-segmented palp, ventral surface of galea-lacinia covered with numerous long setae (Fig. 25), which appear entire in optical microscope, but are slightly feathered in SEM, crown of the galea-lacinia with 20-25 comb-shape setae, median ones bearing 12-17 teeth (Fig. 26), distal dentisetae bifid and fimbriate, as the proximal one (Figs 23-24); hypopharynx with robust lingua and well developed superlinguae bend backwards (Figs 27-28); labium with rhomboid glossae (Figs 20-22), paraglossae regularly curved, apex not bend backwards and moderately expended laterally.

Thorax with pronotum slightly to greatly enlarged laterally; supracoxal spurs acute and well developed especially on mid- and hindlegs; femora rather similar between the three pairs of legs, row of stout and pointed bristles on inner and outer margins, no thin setae present; outer margin of fore tibia with few thin setae on proximal fourth, mid tibia with a row of thin setae on outer margin almost to tarsi, hind tibia (Figs 30, 32, 34) with two rows of thin setae, one on the outer margin, one in submarginal position, spine-like bristles absent or present.

Abdomen with posterolateral projection generally greatly enlarged from segment III to VII or VIII (Figs 3, 6, 9); posterior margin of tergites (Figs 35-37) with large and pointed teeth, microdenticles present and generally numerous; all gills asymmetrical (Figs 38-49), gills I–VI with plate-like and extremely developed fibrillose parts, gill VII only plate-like; terminal filament well developed, cerci whitish with more or less enlarged brown bands; segments with whorls of stout and pointed setae.

Discussion.

The scattered setae on the ventral surface of the maxilla indicate clearly that Thalerosphyrus belong to the subfamily Ecdyonurinae . The presence of acute supracoxal spurs, the anterior margin of the head thickened and generally well developed posterolateral projections of the abdomen are discriminating characters according to Webb and McCafferty (2008). To these we can add the shape of the gills II–V (VI) strongly asymmetrical and wider than long, with fibrillose part well developed. In the Oriental Realm, Thalerosphyrus could be confused with Compsoneuriella Ulmer, 1939 because of the acute supracoxal spurs, but is easily told by the much more developed posterolateral projections of the abdomen, the higher number of comb-like setae on the crown of the galea-lacinia, the shape of the gills which are never so wide in Compsoneuriella , and by the shape of the distal dentisetae, which are simple and not fimbriate in Compsoneuriella ( Sartori 2014c).

Species included.

Thalerosphyrus determinatus (Walker, 1853): Java

Thalerosphyrus sinuosus ( Navás, 1933): Java, Sumatra

Thalerosphyrus vietnamensis (Dang, 1967): Vietnam

Thalerosphyrus bishopi Braasch & Soldán, 1986: West-Malaysia

Thalerosphyrus flowersi Venkataraman & Sivamarakrishnan, 1987: South India

Thalerosphyrus lamuriensis Sartori, 2014: Sumatra

The species described by Ulmer (1926) as Thalerosphyrus melli from China has been recently assigned to another genus as Epeorus melli (Ulmer) by Zhou et al. (2007); the species Thalerosphyrus torridus (Walker, 1853) described based on a single female imago from the Philippines most probably belong to the genus Afronurus ( Braasch 2011); the species Thalerosphyrus separatus Nguyen & Bae, 2004 and Thalerosphyrus ethiopicus Soldán, 1977 described from Vietnam and Sudan respectively, have been suggested to be also members of the genus Afronurus by Webb et al. (2006).

Distribution.

The genus Thalerosphyrus is endemic to the Oriental Realm. It is known from India, through Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, West Malaysia), up to Sumbawa in the Sunda Islands (see below), suggesting, as for Rhithrogena ( Sartori 2014d), that the Wallace line is not a barrier to the dispersal of some Ephemeroptera . The genus is however not currently reported from Sulawesi ( Edmunds and Polhemus 1990). According to Braasch (2011), Thalerosphyrus is also not recorded from the Philippines, and its presence on the island of Borneo is only based on few data and no named species are known ( Braasch 2011); in the MZL collections is a single nymph (Sabah, Mesilau River, 8 km north of Kundessan, 2100 m, 1.VIII.1985, J.T. & D.A. Polhemus leg) which is clearly related to Thalerosphyrus lamuriensis , but complementary material is needed before any definitive answer can be found. In the MZL collections is also deposited a single nymph from Nepal (Nawakot & Sindhu Districts, Patibhanjyang Village, elev. ca 6000', 10.IX.1968, C. Wiens leg) which expands the distribution of the genus to the Himalaya.