Brevistoma bardii ( Navás, 1914 )

Zheng, Yuchen, Ni, Ziyang, Aspöck, Ulrike, Aspöck, Horst, Badano, Davide, Nel, André & Liu, Xingyue, 2025, A hidden treasure along Silk Roads: An unexpected new species of spoon-winged lacewings from Xinjiang, China, and a revision of the genus Brevistoma Tjeder, 1967 (Neuroptera: Nemopteridae), Zootaxa 5566 (1), pp. 97-118 : 99-101

Brevistoma bardii ( Navás, 1914)

( Figs 1A ; 2A–B, D–E ; 4 ; 11A–B ; 12 )

Lertha bardii Navás, 1914: 202 (type locality: “Hon, Oasi di Giofra” = Lybia: Al Kufrah, Hon town; holotype originally in MSNG, loaned but not returned). Monserrat, 1988: 105 ( Lertha ). Poggi, 1993: 440 ( Lertha ). Aspöck & Hölzel, 1996: 65 ( Lertha ). Güsten, 2003: 136 ( Brevistoma ). Prost, 2016: 410 ( Lertha ). Ábrahám, 2017: 79 ( Brevistoma ).

Lertha dumonti Navás, 1924: 111 (type locality: Algeria, Laghouat; two syntypes in MNHN, one of them lost). Navás, 1929: 15 ( Lertha ). Monserrat, 1985: 242 ( Lertha ). Synonymised by Monserrat, 1988: 105.

Diagnosis. Vertex barely raised. Male antenna nearly 2/3 length of forewing; female antenna nearly half as long as forewing. Maxillary palpus columniform. Pronotum with a pair of indistinct brown stripes. Mesoprescutum brown anteriorly; mesonotum laterally with a pair of indistinct brown stripes; mesoscutellum pale yellow without marking. Forewing generally hyaline. Hind wing mostly hyaline, distal part of hind wing with two brown markings. Abdomen laterally with a pair of dark brown stripes. Male posterior gonocoxites 9 widely hook-like, dorsal protruded in lateral view; gonostyli 11 slightly swollen, gonocoxites + gonostyli 11 nearly W-shaped in dorsal view.

Re-description. Size. Head width 2.02–2.56 mm; forewing length 18.24–22.46 mm; hind wing length 46.76– 50.22 mm.

Head. Vertex barely raised, pale brown without marking. Male antenna nearly 2/3 length of forewing; female antenna nearly half as long as forewing. Scape and pedicel pale yellow. Each flagellomere nearly as long as wide in male ( Figs 11A, 11C–E, 11G ), but longer than wide in female ( Figs 11B, 11F, 11H–I ). Frons pale yellow, female frons nearly as long as wide. Female clypeus as long as wide. Labrum truncated on distal margin. Maxillary palpus columniform. Labial palpus slender. Cardo and stipe pale yellow. Mandibles pale yellow, elongate. Rostrum nearly as long as half of head width ( Figs 4E–G ).

Thorax. Mostly pale yellow. Pronotum pale yellow, with a pair of indistinct brown stripes, covered with some short pale setae. Mesoprescutum brown anteriorly; mesonotum laterally with a pair of indistinct brown stripes; mesoscutellum pale yellow without marking. Metanotum extremely short. Meso- and metapleurae generally pale yellow ( Fig. 4E ).

Legs. Slender, generally pale yellow. Tibial spur weakly developed. Tarsomeres 2–4 with some stout setae ventrally; pretarsal claws dark reddish brown, slightly curved ( Fig. 4D ).

Wings. Forewing generally hyaline, apex rounded; subcostal area and pterostigma pale yellow; costal crossvein not forked; 11 presectoral crossveins present; RP with five branches; 3A closed to forewing margin. Hind wing slender, ribbon-like, nearly twice as long as forewing, mostly hyaline; distal part of hind wing with two dark brown markings; pterostigma pale ( Figs 3A, B, D, E ; 4A–C ).

Abdomen. Pale yellow, laterally with a pair of dark brown stripes. Male genitalia. Sternum 9 nearly twice as long as ectoproct (ect), rectangular in ventral view, medial margin slightly prominent ( Figs 4H–I ). Posterior gonocoxites 9 widely hook-like, dorsally protruded in lateral view; gonocoxites 11 thick arched, medially with some short setae; gonostyli 11 slightly swollen, gonocoxites + gonostyli 11 nearly W-shaped in dorsal view ( Figs 4L–P ). Ectoproct rounded in lateral view ( Fig. 4H ). Female genitalia. Gonocoxites 9 long ovoid, covered with some short setae. Ectoproct rounded on distal margin, covered with some short setae ( Figs 1D ; 7J–K ).

Type material examined. 1♀, syntype of Lertha dumonti Navás, 1924 , “ Algérie, Laghouat, 20.7.19, C. Dumont, 1924” = ALGERIA: Laghouat ( MNHN) ( Fig. 1 A ) .

Additional material examined. 1♂, ALGERIA: Ghardaia ( MNHN) ; 1♂ 6♀, MAURITANIA: Atar , 5.IV.1967, collections of André Prost ( MDC) ; 1♂ 1♀, MOROCCO: Ouarzazate, N12, Zagora , 720 m, 9.V.2024, D. Sechi ( DB) ; 8♀, MOROCCO: Errachidia, Aoufous ( Ose am Oued Ziz , S Kar-ej-Jdid ), 31.40N / 4.10W, 1100 m, 22.VII.1982, Horst Aspöck, Ulrike Aspöck, Christoph Aspöck, H. Rausch & R. Rausch ( HUAC) ; 1♀, TUNISIA: “Tunisian desert” ( ZCAU) .

Distribution. Algeria (Ghardaia, Laghouat); Libya (Al Kufrah, Tripoli); Mauritania (Atar); Morocco (Draa-Tafilalet, Errachidia, Ouarzazate); Tunisia.

Remarks. This species was originally described by Navás (1914) based on a single specimen (the holotype) from Libya, as a member of the genus Lertha , i.e., L. bardii . Monserrat (1988) treated L. dumonti as a junior synonym of this species. Güsten (2003) transferred L. bardii to the genus Brevistoma , as a new combination, i.e., B. bardii , while also treating the type species of Brevistoma ( B. bourboni ) as another junior synonym of the former species. Lertha is a distinct genus, being characterized by the presence of some setae around the eye, the distal hindwing with distinct double dilations, the male gonostyli 11 not swollen into lingulate processes, and the absence of sexual dimorphism in the antennae and mouthparts ( Aspöck et al. 1984; Monserrat 1985). Thus, B. bardii fits the modern taxonomic concept of Brevistoma and therefore belongs to this genus. Unfortunately, we were unable to examine the holotype of L. bardii . According to the information provided by the MSNG staff, the type was not returned since it was borrowed in the turn of this century. However, we can still clarify the taxonomic status of this species based on the literature ( Monserrat 1988) and additional non-type specimens examined. Based on the examination of a syntype of L. dumonti ( Fig. 1A ), we found that its characters match the descriptions of B. bardii provided by Navás (1914) and Monserrat (1988). Besides, since the type locality of L. dumonti and B. bardii are close, we agree with that L. dumonti is a junior synonym of B. bardii as proposed by Monserrat (1988).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type of Brevistoma spp. A: Lertha dumonti Navás, 1924, syntype in MNHN (current name: B. bardii (Navás, 1914). B: Savigniella bourboni Navás, 1931, lectotype in MNHN (current name: B. bourboni (Navás, 1931) stat. rev.). C: B. gallagheri Hölzel, 1999, holotype in NHMW. D: B. hackeri Hölzel, 1999, holotype in NHMW.

FIGURE 2. Habitus and wings abbreviation of Brevistoma spp. A: B. bardii (Navás, 1914), male, from Ouarzazate (Morocco). B: B. bardii (Navás, 1914), female, from Errachidia (Morocco). C: Brevistoma sp., female, from Sudan. D: B. bardii, forewing. E: B. bardii, distal hind wing.

FIGURE 3. Habitus of B. raksasiae Zheng, Ni & Liu sp. nov., from Turpan (China). A: Male, holotype. B: Female, paratype.

FIGURE 4. Brevistoma bardii (Navás, 1914). A: Part of habitus, from Errachidia (Morocco). B: Distal hind wing, male, from Ouarzazate (Morocco). C: Distal hind wing, female, Errachidia (Morocco). D: Head and thorax, lateral view, from Laghouat (Algeria). E: Head and thorax, dorsal view, from Tunisia. F: Head, frontal view, male, from Ghardaia (Algeria). F: Head, frontal view, female, from Laghouat (Algeria). Male terminalia, from Ghardaia (Algeria): H. Lateral view. I. Ventral view. Female terminalia, from Laghouat (Algeria): J. Lateral view. K. Ventral view. Male genitalia, from Ghardaia (Algeria): L. Caudal view. M. Ventral view. N. Cephalic view. O. Lateral view. P. dorsal view.

FIGURE 7. Brevistoma hackeri Hölzel, 1999, types. A: Part of habitus, female, paratype. B: Distal hind wing, male, holotype. C: Distal hind wing, female, paratype. D: Head and thorax, lateral view, male, holotype. E: Head and thorax, dorsal view, male, holotype. F: Head, frontal view, male, holotype. F: Head, frontal view, female, paratype. Male terminalia: H. Lateral view. I. Ventral view. Female terminalia: J. Lateral view. K. Ventral view. Male genitalia: L. Caudal view. M. Ventral view. N. Cephalic view. O. Lateral view. P. dorsal view.

FIGURE 11. Antennae of Brevistoma spp.A. B. bardii (Navás, 1914), male, from Ghardaia (Algeria). B. B. bardii, female, from Tunisia. C. B. bourboni (Navás, 1931) stat. rev., male, lectotype. D. B. gallagheri Hölzel, 1999, male, holotype. E. B. hackeri Hölzel, 1999, male, holotype. F: B. hackeri, female, paratype. G. B. raksasiae Zheng, Ni & Liu sp. nov., holotype, male. H. B. raksasiae sp. nov., paratype, female. I. Brevistoma sp., female, from Sudan.

FIGURE 12. Geographical distribution of Brevistoma bardii (red circle:Brevistoma bardii; purple circle: B. bourboni; yellowish circle: B. gallagheri; turquoise circle: B. hackeri; blue circle: B. raksasinae sp. nov.; grayish circle: B. sp.)