Cordulegaster sarracenia, Abbott, John C. & Hibbitts, Troy D., 2011

Abbott, John C. & Hibbitts, Troy D., 2011, Cordulegaster sarracenia, n. sp. (Odonata: Cordulegastridae) from east Texas and western Louisiana, with a key to adult Cordulegastridae of the New World, Zootaxa 2899, pp. 60-68 : 61-64

Cordulegaster sarracenia n. sp.

( Figs. 1–5 )

Type material. Holotype: 3 TEXAS, Angelina County , 0.8 mi N of Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Angelina National Forest, N31.071332° W94.279984°, 22 April 2010, M. Reid ( FSCA). Allotype: Ƥ TEXAS, Jasper County, Angelina National Forest, pipeline right of way, pitcher plant bog near Boykin Springs Lake, N31.0637° W94.2791°, 52m, 29 April 2010, G.W. Lasley #GWL497 ( FSCA). Paratypes: (7 3, 8 Ƥ). 1 Ƥ TEXAS, Angelina County, Angelina National Forest, 0.6 mi N of Boykin Springs Recreational Area, N31.07361° W94.27974°, 25 April 2010, T.D. Hibbitts (KJT); 1 Ƥ TEXAS, Angelina County, Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Angelina National Forest, N31.05983° W94.2839°, 16 March 2011, T. Hibbitts (JJD); 1 3 TEXAS, Jasper County, Angelina NF, Boykin Springs Recreation Area, boggy seep along gas pipeline cut; N31.063495° W94.279479°, 21 April 2010, coll. T. and A. Donnelly 10x 004a (TWD); 1 3 TEXAS, Jasper County, Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Angelina National Forest, N31.06285° W94.28025°, 15 March 2011, J.C. Abbott & K.K. Abbott #JCA2480 ( UTIC); 1 Ƥ TEXAS, Jasper County, Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Angelina National Forest, N31.05988° W94.29195°, 17 March 2011, K.K. Abbott & J.C. Abbott #JCA2483 ( UTIC); 2 3, 1 Ƥ TEXAS, Jasper County, Boykin Springs Recreation Area, Angelina National Forest, N31.0637° W94.2791°, 1 April 2011, G.W. Lasley #GWL534 (1 3 & 1Ƥ UTIC, 1 3 KJT); 1 Ƥ TEXAS: Newton County, Temple Inland Scrappin Valley, N31.13940° W93.79774°, 17 March 2011, T.D. Hibbitts #TDH039 ( UTIC); 1 3 LOUISIANA, Natchitoches Parish, Middle Branch Bog, Kisatchie Ranger District of Kisatchie National Forest, N31.48324° W93.07553°, 18 March 2011, S.H. Shively (JJD); 1 Ƥ, same locality, S.N. Shively (TWD); 1 3, same locality, J.C. Abbott #JCA2482 ( UTIC); 1 3, 2 Ƥ, LOUISIANA, Natchitoches Parish, Middle Branch Bog, Pearson Wildlife Management Area, Kisatchie National Forest, N31.4831° W93.0751°, 2 April 2011, G.W. Lasley #GWL535 (1 3 & 1Ƥ RWG, 1 Ƥ UTIC).

Etymology. The Latin word sarracenia [sa-rə-ˈsē-nē-ə] is the genus of eastern North American insectivorous pitcher plants found in bogs and seepages at the type locality. The pitcher plant genus was named after D. Sarrazin, a 17th-century botanist from Quebec, Canada. The specific name sarracenia is to be treated as an indeclinable noun.

Description. Male holotype. Head. Eyes aqua blue in life. Labium, maxilla, base of mandibles pale tan; middle of mandible dark brown, apex black; labrum bone white, anterior margin brown; anteclypeus brown, paler laterally; postclypeus bone white with brown spot anteriorly on either side of midline; antefrons bone white with wash of green; postfrons same color as antefrons, with posterior margin washed in tan; antenna and vertex dark brown; occiput triangular and same color as frons, crest with thick fringe of long pale setae; postocular border with black stripe transitioning to diffuse dark brown; rear of head brown dorsally, off-white laterally; gap between compound eyes 0.2 mm at narrowest point (from outside the rim); posterior margin of occiput 1.4 mm.

Thorax. Prothorax brown; ground color of pterothorax brown; dorsal carina black; yellow, parallel-sided stripe on each side of dorsal carina approximately 0.8 mm wide and 3.8 mm long; anterior ends of these stripes 0.35 mm from collar. Mesinfraepisternum uniformly brown. Two lateral pale stripes; mesepimeral stripe suffused with yellow (but much paler then middorsal stripes), metepimeral stripe white; mesepimeral stripe 1.1 mm wide; metepimeral stripe 0.9 mm wide at posterior end, widening to 1.2 mm anteriorly. Wing veins brown to black, except anterior edge of costa yellow; pterostigma dark brown; 15 Ax, 10 Px.

Abdomen. Ground color dark brown with conspicuous yellow markings as follows: S1 with large pale spot laterally; S2 with narrow yellow band medially at transverse carina and band 3x as wide posteriorly, both bands interrupted middorsally; S3–7 with broad yellow band encircling segment posterior to transverse carina at about 1/ 3 of segment length; each band interrupted by middorsal carina; S4–5 each also with narrow yellow band on posterior edge of segment, interrupted middorsally so that it appears as paired spots; S8 with yellow band widest laterally, narrowing dorsally at its upper end and separated by middorsal carina; S9–10 with yellow lateral spot anteriorly. Cercus brown, 1.7 mm long, with two ventral spines, distance between tips of ventral cercal spines 0.6 mm. Epiproct brown dorsally, tips black dorsally with 2 small black spines, apical margin not sinuate, maximum width at tips measured in ventral view 2.0 mm. Ratio of epiproct width to cercus length 1.2.

Measurements. Total length 61 mm; abdomen length 46 mm; Fw length 36 mm; Hw length 37 mm; pterostigma (Hw) 4.1 mm, hind femur length 7.2 mm.

Female allotype. Head. Similar to holotype. Gap between compound eyes 0.43 mm.

Thorax. Similar in color pattern to holotype male except mesepimeral and metepimeral stripes whiter; mesepimeral stripe 1.0 mm wide and metepimeral stripe more parallel-sided and 1.1 mm wide. Wings with slight wash of amber; 16 Ax, 13 Px.

Abdomen. Color pattern similar to holotype male except pale colors not as vivid; anteriormost pale band on S2 half as wide as posterior band and extends more ventrolaterally; anteriormost pale band on S3 half as wide as in male; small pale spot dorsally on posterior margin of S6 interrupted medially; pale anterolateral spot on S2–6 nearly contiguous with stripe on traverse carina; pale lateral spot on S9–10 much more extensive than in male. Cercus length 1.3 mm. Tip of ovipositor extends 1.2 mm beyond posterior margin of paraprocts.

Measurements. Total length (excluding ovipositor) 61 mm; abdomen length 45 mm; Fw length 38 mm; Hw length 39 mm; pterostigma (Hw) 4.7 mm, hind femur length 7.0 mm, ovipositor length 3.5 mm.

Variation in paratypes. One male paratype with lighter brown abdomen and a pale yellow spot dorsomedially on S9–10; this spot contiguous with lateral spots on S9 and isolated on S10. A second male has pale markings on thorax and abdomen all white or cream colored, but not yellow; both these individuals probably younger than holotype and other paratypes. Maximum width of both mesepimeral and metepimeral yellow stripes ranges from 0.9– 1.1 mm in the male and 1.0– 1.2 mm in the female. Anteclypeus of two female paratypes darker brown; wings largely hyaline in all paratypes, otherwise markings remarkably similar to holotype. Cercus length ranges from 1.5–1.7 mm in the males; cercus spine gap ranges from 0.46–0.62 mm; epiproct width ranges from 1.70–1.96 mm; epiproct width to cercus length ratio ranges from 0.99–1.23. The degree of the apical upturn in the male cerci varies and in one paratype is noticeably less than the holotype. Ax and Px range from 14–17 and 9–12 respectively in the male, and 16–18 and 9–13 in the female.

Range in measurements. 3, total length 56–61 mm; abdomen length 42–46 mm; FW length 33–36 mm; HW length 33.5–37 mm; pterostigma (HW) 3.8–4.4 mm, hind femur length 5.6–7.2 mm. Ƥ, total length (not including ovipositor) 58–64 mm; abdomen length 44–48 mm; FW length 37–41 mm; HW length 37–40 mm; pterostigma (HW) 4.3–4.8 mm, hind femur length 6.6–7.5 mm, ovipositor length 3.1–3.5 mm

Coloration in life. Mature male and female eyes aqua blue in upper half and pale violet below ( Fig. 6 ). Dorsal thoracic stripes and pale abdominal markings yellow. Male with first lateral thoracic stripe pale yellow, female off white. Second lateral thoracic stripe in both male and female off white. Juvenile males with dorsal yellow spot on S9–10 possibly becoming obscured with maturity.

Diagnosis. Cordulegaster sarracenia is easily distinguished from all North American congeners by color pattern and cercal morphology. It is the only Cordulegaster with the mesepimeral and metepimeral stripes distinctly paler than the dorsal thoracic stripes in combination with yellow bands on S3–8 interrupted by the middorsal carina. The cerci are most similar to C. sayi , but C. sarracenia has the ventromedial spine at 1/3 of the cercus length from the base, while it is at the basal 1/ 4 in C. sayi . Cordulegaster sarracenia has a prominent medial dilation of the cercus in dorsal view, which is barely visible in C. sayi . Additionally, the bands on S 3–8 in C. sayi are contiguous and uninterrupted by the middorsal carina.

The other three species of the C. diastatops group have mesepimeral and metepimeral stripes the same color yellow as the middorsal thoracic stripes. C. talaria , C. diastatops , and C. bilineata have spots on S3–8 elongated. In C. talaria and C. diastatops these spots are widely separated, while in C. bilineata they are narrowly separated by the middorsal carina as in C. sarracenia . The crest of the female occiput of C. sarracenia in direct anterior view is distinctly convex, similar to C. diastatops , C. bilineata , and C. sayi ; it is straight to slightly convex in C. talaria .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Cordulegaster sarracenia in life. Male (left), Louisiana: Natchitoches Parish, Middle Branch Bog, Kisatchie National Forest, 18 March 2011. Female (right), Texas: Jasper County, Boykin Springs Recreational Area, Angelina National Forest, 17 March 2011. Photos by John C. Abbott.

FIGURES 1 – 5. Cordulegaster sarracenia. 1 – 4. Holotype. (1) lateral view of cerci, epiproct and paraproct; (2) dorsal view of cerci and epiproct; (3) lateral view; (4) dorsal view of S 4 – 10. (5). Lateral view of allotype.