Neoperla crustata, Zwick & Zwick, 2023

Zwick, Peter & Zwick, Andreas, 2023, Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data, Zootaxa 5316 (1), pp. 1-194 : 79

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5316.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BC922E16-2614-4F3D-AD82-87A845DE7E2B
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E12C876C-4A24-FFCA-FF4F-FBA2FF4B08A0
treatment provided by	Plazi (2023-07-17 08:15:58, last updated by GgImagineBatch 2023-07-17 08:30:54)
scientific name	Neoperla crustata
status	n. sp.

Treatment

31. Neoperla crustata n. sp.

( Figs. 174–176)

Type material: ♁ holotype, Republic of Guinea, piège lumineuse, sans étiquette (slide Z16/66; NEOP073 ; SMNS, gift J. M.Élouard) .

Paratypes: Republic of Mali: 3♁: Niger à Bamako [12.39°N, 8.00°W, 487m] 14.10.1984 J.M.Gibon; 2♁, ibidem, 14.9.94, F. Niger ( SMNS, slides Z16/53+54) GoogleMaps .

Habitus. WL 8.8–10.0mm. Ochre colour, legs brownish, wings infuscate. A kidney-shaped black ring around each ocellus.

Male ( Figs. 174–176). Generally similar to N. pilulifera n. sp. but triangular projection of T7 short. T8 flat, front as wide as the T7 process above it, narrowing caudally, with some SB. T9 unmodified, pilose humps not much raised above median furrow. Hemitergal callus tongue-shaped, tip of HT sinuous, short, sharp apex pointing forward. Hind tibiae unmodified.

Penis straight, stout, tube distally wide, knee-shaped when endophallus is everted ( Figs. 174, 176), distal armature variable. Basal half of endophallus bare, near midlength some large dorsal spines, the inflated bulbous distal third with numerous small spines in regular rows, tip in the form of a short nipple. Sides of endophallus bare, ventrally some spines in a short row. In the holotype, basolateral, dorsolateral, and dorsodistal spine groups on the outside of the penis tube are distinguishable, the other specimens have small plates, each with a projecting short spine, forming a dorsodistal crust ( Fig. 175).

Female. Unknown.

Egg. Unknown.

DNA ( Figs. 491–492, 494). Only the male holotype from Guinea was sequenced with the genome-skimming approach, resulting in 9,237bp of mitochondrial, protein-coding genes. This species is very strongly supported (56.4/97/98) as sister to N. amoena n. sp. + N. pilulifera n. sp..

Etymology. The Latin adjective crustata , encrusted, refers to the extended dorsodistal spine patches on the penis.