Parosmylus prominens Needham, 1909

Kaur, Simarjit, Pandher, Manpreet Singh & Chandra, Kailash, 2019, First description of male of the type species Parosmylus prominens Needham, 1909 (Neuroptera: Osmylidae) from India, Zootaxa 4604 (2), pp. 395-400 : 396-400

Parosmylus prominens Needham, 1909

( Figs. 1–7 )

Parosmylus prominens Needham, 1909: 209

Description. Measurements. Body length 12.36 mm; forewing length 27.63 mm, width 9.50 mm; hindwing length 22.77 mm, width 9.48mm.

Head. (In alcohol) Vertex black, ocelli brown, eyes black. Antenna brown, 60–61 segments, first flagellomere elongate, flagellum provided with setae, membrane of antennal socket dark brown. Frons black, labrum dark brown, maxillary palpi and labial palpi brown.

Thorax. Protonum black, slightly longer than wide, almost concolorous with the head. Meso- and metanota dark brown and black on sides. Legs brown, long and stout; femora and tibiae equal in length, each tibia with two distal brown spines, pretarsal claws fuscous, basally serrate.

Wings. ( Figs. 1–2 ) Forewings broad, each with membrane hyaline, with numerous brown patches which appear darker toward the costal margin; pterostigma with dark brown spots; nygmata distinct, dark brown. Veins with alternate dark brown and pale bands; costal field with basal part slightly expanded, with numerous crossveins (35–36) and fuscous marks; RP with 13–15 branches; cros-veins on RP area irregularly arranged; fork MP close to separation of MA from RP; Cu fork close to base of wing, CuP with many pectinate branches interlinked by small veinlets; A 1 and A 2 with distal pectinate branches. Hind wing hyaline, with few marks besides the brown pterostigma. Costal field narrow, with 28–29 crossveins, those of distal half distally forked. M fork close to wing base. CuP with many pectinate branches.

Abdomen. Black in colour.

Male genitalia. ( Fig. 3–5 ) Tergite VIII quadrate, scent gland slender. Tergite IX long, with short finger-like dorsal process, constricted at level of ectoproct (anal plate) and ventrally tapered. Ectoproct almost quadrate in lateral view, callus cerci round. Genitalia composed of gonarcus and mediuncus (parameres). Gonarcus well sclerotized, distally with sclerotized, upturned, pointed ventral process in lateral view; baculum spindle-shaped. Mediuncus dilated basally with pointed backward ends, slender apically, surrounded by membrane in lateral view. Parameres indicated as slender sclerites below mediuncus, slightly bent in lateral view with rounded ends.

Female genitalia. ( Fig. 6–7 ) Tergite VIII broad, almost trapezoidal. Sternite VIII small and rectangular. Tergite IX narrow and ventrally tapered. Ectoproct cone-shaped, callus cerci oval, placed in centre of ectoproct. Gonocoxite IX (gonopophysis lateralis) boat-shaped, strongly arcuate; gonostylus IX finger-like. Spermatheca oblong.

Specimens examined. India: Himachal Pradesh; Kullu; Great Himalayan National Park , 31°79’29.7” N 77°56’ 76.1”E, 2,754 m; 16.vi.2017, (Sajan & Party); (NZC), 3 males and 1 female. Uttarakhand; Chamoli, Ghangaria ; 30°42’04.4”N 79°35’38.5”E, 3,128 m, 12.vi.2017, (Hirdesh & Party) 1 male and 1 female . Jammu & Kashmir; Ladakh; Sanjak , 34°34’52.76”N 76°31’35.19”E, 2,807 m, 03.vi.2018, (Tayyibi) 1 male .

Remarks. The specimens described here for this species are reported from the type locality Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) by Needham (1909). Additional specimens are reported for the first time from two other Himalayan states (Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand). The above-mentioned localities are part of the Indian Himalaya, comprised of two biogeographic zones, Trans Himalaya and Himalaya ( Rodgers et al. 2002). The Ladakh region (Jammu & Kashmir) is in the Trans Himalaya zone which is called “High altitude cold desert” because of dry and cold climatic conditions.Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, and Chamoli, Uttarakhand, are in the Himalaya zone (Northwest Himalaya). Parosmylus prominens may be endemic in these two high-altitude zones.

Discussion. The male identity of the type species Parosmylus prominens Needham, 1909 , has remained unknown until now, although the genus Parosmylus Needham, 1909 was established long ago. The present paper describes the male of this type species for the first time and redescribes the female genitalia.

The generic status of Parosmylus has been doubted by early workers. Parosmylus has been often confused with three other genera, Grandosmylus Makarkin, 1985 ; Osmylus Latreille, 1802 ; and Plethosmylus Krüger, 1913 . Banks (1913) considered Parosmylus as a junior synonym of Osmylus because the coxal spur in Parosmylus is also present in some species of Osmylus . Further, Krüger (1913) established the genus Plethosmylus based on the presence of interlinked veinlets between costal crossveins. Nakahara (1914) also agreed with Krüger’s observations and regarded Parosmylus as a synonym of Osmylus . Conversely, Wang & Lie (2009) considered it a valid genus on the basis of characteristics such as the following: (1) forewing costal crossveins forked distally; (2) crossveins in radial sector numerous and irregularly arranged, only outer gradate crossveins integrated, or gradate crossveins hardly differentiated; (3) in male genitalia gonarcus strongly sclerotized distally to form pair of upturned ventral processes and cone-shaped lateral projections; (4) in female genitalia gonocoxite IX boat-shaped with pair of finger-like styli. Wang & Lie (2009) mentioned that the gonarcus is more sclerotized distally and has a sclerotized, upturned, ventral process when viewed laterally; the gonopophysis lateralis is slightly bent into a boat-shaped structure in this genus and in other genera of Osmylinae they are straight and finger-like. All of these characters have been observed in this species. This species has been reported from India only, which suggests it is endemic to this region. The above-mentioned characteristics agree with the description of genus given by Needham and also have been observed by us.

This revised description of the type species observes shared characters among the Parosmylus species that are unique to genus, including crossveins in radial sector numerous and irregularly arranged and gonocoxite IX boatshaped. The second species from India, P. belaae Ghosh & Sen, 1968 , differs in not having the forks of the radial sector and the median veins in the same line. The other known species show variations in fuscous marks on the forewings, pectinate branches of CuP and A2 interlinked by veinlets, and different shapes of sternite VIII and the ectoproct which may be small, triangular, or oval.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Wings of Parosmylus prominens Needham. 1. Right forewing, dorsal view; 2. right hind wing, dorsal view.A1 = first anal, A2 = second anal, A3 = third anal, CuA = anterior cubitus, CuP = posterior cubitus, MA = anterior medius, MP = posterior medius, ng = nygmata, og = outer gradates, pt = pterostigma, RA = anterior radius, RP = posterior radius, Sc = subcosta.

FIGURES 3–5. Male genitalia of Parosmylus prominens Needham. 3. Terminalia, left lateral view; 4. genitalia, left lateral view; 5. Gonarcus, dorsal view.

FIGURES 6–7. Female genitalia of Parosmylus prominens Needham. 6. Terminalia, left lateral view; 7. Spermatheca, left lateral view.