Rhopalopsole wolong Li & Yang

Li, Weihai & Yang, Ding, 2012, A review of Rhopalopsole magnicerca group (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) from China, Zootaxa 3582, pp. 17-32 : 18-21

Rhopalopsole wolong Li & Yang , sp. nov.

(Figs. 13–24, 45–46, 49–50)

Male. Forewing length 5.5–5.6 mm, hindwing length 5.0–5.1 mm. Head dark brown, slightly wider than pronotum; compound eyes dark; antennae and mouthparts dark brown. Thorax brown, pronotum dark brown, with brownish longitudinal strip on each side of midline; wings brownish; legs brown. Abdomen brownish; sternum 9 darker. Terminalia (Figs. 13–24, 49–50). Tergum 9 (Figs. 13, 49) evenly sclerotised except a darkly sclerotised anterior strip, its anterior margin triangularly incised, with two submedial fields of several small knobs typical of the group at mid–posterior margin (Fig. 16). Sternum 9 (Fig. 14) basally with tongue–like vesicle bearing dense hairs, apically with distinct trapezoidal subgenital plate wider than long and truncate apically. Tergum 10 with central plate (Figs. 13 & 17) trilobed, covered by many macrotrichia but with no ornamentation; lateral projections (Figs. 13, 15, 22 & 23) extending backwards in a sloping subquadrate plate which abruptly terminates in a small triangular spine, in lateral view the outline nearly parallel–sided; transverse bars triangular, each with a finger–like lobe that extends outwards. Cercus (Figs. 13–15) slightly upturned, with no apical spine. Epiproct typical of the group, with several tiny lateral spines subapically. Subanal lobe (Figs. 18–21, 50) greatly upturned, basally with well defined sloping furrows (Figs. 19–20), upturned area forming two bipartite distal lobes, in top view ear–like in appearance and slightly downcast in lateral view.

Female (Figs. 24, 45–46). Generally similar to males. Forewing length 6.2–6.5 mm, hindwing length 5.5–5.6 mm. Subgenital plate roughly trapezoidal, only slightly produced, posterior margin nearly straight, with two darkened triangular lobes with a membranous medial notch between them (note that in fig. 24 the notch membrane appears the same characteristics as the lobes, so different from figs.45–46 that the posterior margin seems rounded, although they are taken from the same specimen). Sternum 8 with an arcuate transverse sclerite almost across the lateral margins of the segment, central area less sclerotized.

Type Material. Holotype: male, China: Sichuan, Rangtang County, Wolong , unnamed stream of Yinchanggou Gully, 101.0114 E, 31.7727 N, 1880 m, 2006. VIII.1, Xingyue Liu. Paratypes: 2 males and 3 females, same data as holotype.

Etymology. The epithet refers to its type locality, Wolong .

Distribution. China (Sichuan).

Diagnosis and Remarks. The new species is a typical member the group and seems related to R. emeishan Sivec & Harper , a species widely distributed in Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan. It can be easily distinguished from the latter by the details of lateral projections and subanal lobe. Male subanal lobe of the new species has well defined sloping furrows and the lateral projections of tergum 19 bear triangular apex in lateral view. Additionally, its female subgenital plate is only slightly produced, with two darkened triangular areas in the protrusion.

FIGURES. 1–6. Rhopalopsole minutospina sp. nov. (male). 1. Terminalia , dorsal view. 2. Terminalia , ventral view. 3. Terminalia , lateral view. 4. Sublateral field of posterior margin of tergum 9, dorsal view. 5. Central plate, dorsal view. 6. Subanal lobe, dorsal view.

FIGURES. 7–12. Rhopalopsole minutospina sp. nov. (male). 7. Epiproct, dorsal view. 8. Epiproct tip, posterior view. 9. Apical half of lateral projection, lateral view. 10. Apical half of lateral projection, oblique ventral view. 11. Apical half of lateral projection, dorsal view. 12. Surface details of subanal lobe, ventral view.

FIGURES. 13–18. Rhopalopsole wolong sp. nov. (male). 13. Terminalia , dorsal view. 14. Terminalia , ventral view. 15. Terminalia , lateral view. 16. Sublateral field of posterior magin of tergum 9, dorsal view. 17. Central plate and epiproct, dorsal view. 18. Ventral surface of upturned apex of subanal lobe, top view.