Triplectides iguassu, Henriques-Oliveira & Nessimian & Takiya & Santos, 2025

Henriques-Oliveira, Ana Lucia, Nessimian, Jorge Luiz, Takiya, Daniela Maeda & Santos, Allan Paulo Moreira, 2025, Hidden diversity of the long-horned caddisfly genus Triplectides Kolenati, 1859 (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae) in Brazil revealed by DNA and morphology: new species descriptions and larval associations, Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 83, pp. 757-796 : 757-796

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.83.e158227
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9E2BC1CD-E4CD-4287-B495-E79A2C8ED096
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17961775
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DCF511FC-CFAC-5F57-89A8-A4D157B23E55
treatment provided by	Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny by Pensoft
scientific name	Triplectides iguassu
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

3.2. 5. Triplectides iguassu sp. nov.

Figures 12 View Figure 12 , 13 View Figure 13 , 14 View Figure 14 , 15 View Figure 15

Type material.

Holotype: BRAZIL • ♂; Paraná, Céu Azul, Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Rio Manoel Gomes ; 25°09′39.4″S 53°49′45.9″W; alt. 498 m; 06 Sep. 2012; light; A. P. M. Santos, D. M. Takiya, A. L. H. Oliveira, B. Clarkson leg.; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9198 GoogleMaps . – Paratypes: BRAZIL • 10 ♂; same data as for holotype; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 6301 GoogleMaps • 8 ♀; same data as for holotype; light trap; A. L. H. Oliveira, B. Clarkson leg.; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 6300 GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; [DNA voucher ENT 2001]; DZRJ TRCHOPTERA 9200 GoogleMaps • 4 ♂, 2 ♀; same data as for preceding; MNRJ GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; same data as for holotype; white sheet; A. P. M. Santos, D. M. Takiya, A. L. H. Oliveira, B. Clarkson leg.; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9199 GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; [DNA voucher ENT 2385]; DZRJ TRCHOPTERA 9201 GoogleMaps • 6 ♂; same data as for preceding; 07 Sep. 2012; white sheet; G. A. Jardim leg.; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 7059 GoogleMaps • 1 larva; same data as for preceding; hand net; APM Santos, DM Takiya leg.; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9209 GoogleMaps • 1 larva; Paraná, Céu Azul, Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Rio Azul ; 25°09′20.90″S 53°47′44,40″W; alt. 510 m; 06 Sep. 2012; A. L. H. Oliveira leg.; [DNA voucher ENT 1999]; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9202 GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; Rio Grande do Sul, Cambará do Sul, Parque Nacional Aparados da Serra, Arroio Preá ; 24°09′48.66″S 50°05′11.00″W; 08–10 Feb. 2014; Malaise trap; A. P. Pinto, J. G. da Silva leg.; [DNA voucher ENT 3724]; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9204 GoogleMaps • 1 ♂; Santa Catarina, Blumenau, Parque Ecológico Spitzkopf, Ribeirão do Caeté, abaixo da Cascata Ferdinando ; 27°00′23.10″S 49°06′57.30″W; alt. 139 m; 19–22 Jan 2011; A. P. M. Santos, D. M. Takiya, J. L. Nessimian, R. B. Braga leg.; [DNA voucher ENT 2306]; DZRJ TRICHOPTERA 9203 GoogleMaps .

Description.

Adult male. General color brown (in alcohol). Antennae, palps, and legs, golden brown. Head and thorax mostly brown. Forewings with forks I and V present; discoidal cell apically widened (Fig. 12 A View Figure 12 ); cross vein s inflected medially, cross vein r-m and m-cu short and aligned (Fig. 12 C View Figure 12 ). Hind wings broad, with forks I, III, and V present (Fig. 12 B View Figure 12 ); fork I with a short petiole (Fig. 12 D View Figure 12 ). Length of forewing 13.5–14.5 mm, length of hind wing 9.5–10.5 mm (n = 20). Tibial spur formula 2, 2, 4. — Genitalia: Segment IX annular, in lateral view, narrow with anterior margin almost straight and enlarged dorsally, posterior margin slightly concave medially (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ); tergum IX with posterior margin almost rounded with external margin protruded, median process short and bifid (Fig. 13 A, B View Figure 13 ). Preanal appendages digitate, slightly oblong, approximately half the length of tergum X, bearing very long setae (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ). Tergum X, in lateral view, wide at base, basal half less sclerotized than apical half, tapering apically, with apex rounded and slightly upturned (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ); in dorsal view, slightly wide at base with apex truncate and rounded, V-shaped apicomesal incision extending anteriorly less than half the length of the segment, with lateral line of very short and stout setae near the lateral margin (Fig. 13 B View Figure 13 ). Inferior appendages, long, extending beyond tergum X, bearing very long setae; 1 st article, in lateral view, wide at base, constricted medially, with apical portion narrow and rounded apically (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ); apicodorsal lobe digitate, long, extending beyond 2 nd article, with very long setae (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ); basoventral lobes digitate, rounded and bearing long setae (Fig. 13 A, C View Figure 13 ); in ventral view, mesal lobes long, almost as long as basoventral lobes, sinuate, rounded apically, with a tooth-like projection basally on lateral margin (Fig. 13 C View Figure 13 ); 2 nd article long, slender, wide at base, gradually curved mesad to an acute apex (Fig. 13 C View Figure 13 ). Phallic apparatus simple, tubular, with a mesal apical, U-shaped incision, with a small mesal projection (Fig. 13 D View Figure 13 ), with phallotremal sclerite small, rod-like, apically positioned (Fig. 13 D, E View Figure 13 ). — Adult female. General color brown (in alcohol). Antennae, palps, and legs, golden brown. Head and thorax are mostly brown. Length of forewing 13–14.5 mm, length of hind wing 9.5–10.5 mm (n = 10). Tibial spur formula 2, 2, 4. — Genitalia: Sternum VIII, in ventral view, with a large sclerotized plate, brown; anterior margin straight, posterior margin with short mesal incision (Fig. 14 A View Figure 14 ). Segment IX sclerotized dorsally, posterior margin subtruncate, and slightly rounded. Preanal appendages, digitate, slender, and setose, in lateral view (Fig. 14 B View Figure 14 ). Sensilla-bearing process minute can be present below the lamella. Lamellae subquadrate, flap-like, internally concave (Fig. 14 B View Figure 14 ). Gonopod plate large, membranous, with apicomesal process subquadrate and striate in ventral view. Spermathecal sclerite slingshot-shaped and short (Fig. 14 A View Figure 14 ). — Larva. Length up to 12 mm (n = 1) (Fig. 15 A View Figure 15 ). — Head: Coloration (in alcohol) dark brown, with pale oval area around stemmata. Muscle scars, in general, with the same color as the head, with the exception of the posterior portion with somewhat pale scars (Fig. 15 B View Figure 15 ). Head oval with labrum stramineous, sub rectangular with 3 long setae at half the length of the labrum. Mandibles asymmetrical, dark, typical for Triplectides , left mandible with 6 teeth around a concavity and right mandible with 5 teeth. Submentum oval. Ventral apotome subtriangular, elongate, with a constriction at mid-length and narrowing to an acute tip (Fig. 15 B View Figure 15 ). — Thorax: Pronotum dark brown; anterior margin with smooth crenulations, lateral portion slightly protruded with corners pointed (Fig. 15 C, D View Figure 15 ). Mesonotum brown almost completely covered by a pair of large sclerites: sa 1 each with single long seta; sa 2 each with 3 setae: (one mesal long, anterolateral and posterior short), sa 3 each with 6 setae (2 long and 4 short). Metanotum covered by 3 pairs of sclerites: sa 1 quadrate, bearing each a long single seta, sa 2 pale, weakly sclerotized, subquadrate, each with single seta, sa 3 sclerites elongate, oval, each with 3 setae (2 very long, 1 short) (Fig. 15 D View Figure 15 ). Prosternum rectangular. Mesosternum with a pair of sclerites subtriangular curved laterally. Metasternum with a setal area bearing 8 setae (Fig. 15 E View Figure 15 ). Foretrochantin with antero-dorsal margin curved, pointed, and upturned; anteroventral margin rounded (Fig. 15 C View Figure 15 ). Legs yellowish brown with brown striped region in the pro- and meso-coxa (Fig. 15 G View Figure 15 ). — Abdomen: Gills simple, present on segments II – VIII; segments II – VII with dorsal, lateral, and ventral filaments; segment VIII with dorsal and lateral filaments (Fig. 15 H View Figure 15 ). Segment I with a pair of long anteromesal setae; segments II – VII with a pair of posteromesal setae, without dorsal setae. Segment VIII with a pair of antero-lateral setae, and a pair of long posteromesal setae. Segment IX dorsal sclerite with 6 long setae on its posterior margin, and 2 pairs of very short setae behind those (Fig. 15 G View Figure 15 ). Anal claw single, large and pointed, with a small dorsal accessory hook (Fig. 15 F View Figure 15 ). — Larval case: Length up to 20 mm. A simple hollow wood or small sticks (Fig. 15 I View Figure 15 ). — Pupa unknown.

Etymology.

The epithet ‘ iguassu ’ refers to the Iguaçu National Park, where the holotype was collected. The name “ Iguaçu ” originates from the Guarani language, in which “ I ” or “ y ” means “ water ” and “ guassu ” means big, referring to the grandeur of the river and the Iguaçu Falls (Cataratas do Iguaçu), which have the highest water flow of any waterfall in the world.

Distribution.

Brazil ( Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina States).

Habitat.

Specimens were found in several types of forested streams in the Atlantic Forest.

Remarks.

Triplectides iguassu sp. nov., T. gracilis Burmeirster, 1839 , and T. paragracilis sp. nov. have very similar male genitalia aspect. Often in entomological collections, many specimens identified as T. gracilis likely includes a mix of these three species. The most conspicuous feature to distinguish T. iguassu sp. nov. from T. gracilis based on male genitalia is the presence of a tooth-like projection at the base of the mesal lobe of the inferior appendages. This tooth is present and robust in the new species and completely absent in T. gracilis , including the specimen illustrated and described by Holzenthal (1988) and several specimens of T. gracilis examined here. Triplectipes paragracilis sp. nov., described below, also has a small projection at the lateral base of the mesal lobe of the inferior appendages (Fig. 20 A View Figure 20 ), but in T. iguassu sp. nov. the spine-like projection is much more pronounced (Fig. 13 A View Figure 13 ). Also, those two species can be recognized by the tergum IX, in T. iguassu sp. nov. only slightly concave in dorsal view (Fig. 13 B View Figure 13 ), and in T. paragracilis sp. nov. with posterior margin emarginate and slightly produced over tergum X (Fig. 20 B View Figure 20 ). Although those three species are very similar based on male genitalia, potentially being confused based on morphology, DNA sequences consistently distinguish them as distinct species (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). ASAP and bPTP using EF- 1 α sequences indicated T. iguassu sp. nov. and T. paragracilis sp. nov. as being only one species, but COI sequences indicated otherwise. In fact, K 2 P divergences of COI from those three species are very high. The higher intraspecific K 2 P divergences of COI observed within T. iguassu sp. nov. sequences were 6.5 % (Table 3). On the other hand, minimum divergences K 2 P divergences of COI observed among T. iguassu sp. nov. and T. paragracilis sp. nov. were higher than 15.6 %, and among T. iguassu sp. nov. and T. gracilis higher than 17.3 %.

The larvae of this new species can be identified by head and body sclerites dark brown with labrum, antenna, and legs stramineous. Head oval, in dorsal and lateral view, ventral apotome subtriangular, elongate, with a constriction at mid-length and narrowing to an acute tip. Pronotum with anterior margin with smooth crenulations, and lateral portion slightly protruded with corners pointed; metanotum covered by 3 pairs of sclerites and metasternum with a setal area bearing 8 setae. Other important features to identify this species are foretrochantin with antero-dorsal margin curved, pointed, and upturned and anteroventral margin rounded and abdominal gills present on segments II – VIII (segments II – VII with dorsal, lateral, and ventral filaments, and segment VIII with dorsal and lateral filaments).