Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from south-western Yunnan, China (Odonata: Euphaeidae)

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1 Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from Yunnan, China 1 st June Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from south-western Yunnan, China (Odonata: Euphaeidae) Hao-miao Zhang 1, Matti Hämäläinen 2 & Qing-hua Cai 1 1 State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan , China; <zhanghaomiao6988@gmail.com>, <qhcai@ihb.ac.cn> 2 Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; <matti.hamalainen@helsinki.fi> Received 2 nd February 2014; revised and accepted 24 th February 2014 Abstract. A new euphaeid damselfly species, Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. (holotype from Ximeng Wa, Yunnan, China) is described and illustrated for the male sex. A comparison with its congeners is provided. Key words. Dragonfly, damselfly, Zygoptera, new species Introduction The known species of the damselfly genus Anisopleura Selys, 1853 are inhabitants of montane and submontane streams in the Oriental region. A new species, described here as A. pelecyphora sp. nov., was found by the first author in Ximeng Wa county in south-western Yunnan in October It is the third Anisopleura species known to occur in Yunnan. Fraser (1924) recorded A. furcata Selys, 1891 from two locations in the Mekong Valley and Zhu & Zhou (1999) described a new species A. yunnanensis Zhu & Zhou, 1999 from the Dali region. The published record of A. comes Hagen, 1880 from Yunnan by Morton (1928) was a misidentification, as pointed out by Needham (1932). Most likely the single male specimen in question refers to the species presently known as A. yunnanensis. On the other hand it is still uncertain whether A. yunnanensis is a good species or conspecific with A. subplatystyla Fraser, 1927 (see Hämäläinen & Karube 2013; Hämäläinen & Subramanian 2014).

2 44 H.-m. Zhang, M. Hämäläinen & Q.-h. Cai It should be noted that the records of A. furcata from elsewhere in China are incorrect. Needham s (1930: 219) description of A. furcata from Sichuan (Suifu) does not match genuine A. furcata, nor does the illustration of the thorax of A. furcata from Guangxi or Sichuan by Sui & Sun (1984: 208) represent that species, but it may show A. qingyuanensis Zhou, Anisopleura qingyuanensis was described from Zhejiang (Zhou 1982), but it has later proven to be widespread in south-eastern China and occurs also in northern Vietnam and Laos. In China it is known from the following provinces: Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi. Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. (Figs 1a, 2, 3a) Material studied Holotype. China, Yunnan Province, Pu er City, Ximeng Wa Autonomous County, ( N, E), elevation 881 m a.s.l., 04-x-2013, Hao-miao Zhang leg. Deposited at Collection of Aquatic Animals, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. Paratypes. 2, same site and date as in holotype. Etymology The species epithet pelecyphora is a feminine adjective derived from the Greek words pelekýs and -phoros. The word pelekýs means any kind of axe, either a battle axe (also a double axe), a sacrificial axe, a carpenter s axe or a meat cleaver. An adjective ending in -phoros means bearing. So, literally translated: an Anisopleura bearing an axe, referring to the axe-shaped anal appendages of the male. Male (holotype) (Fig. 1a) Head (Fig. 2a) Labium black, middle lobe slightly pruinosed. Anterior and dorsal part of head black with extensive pale greenish-blue markings. Labrum with large pale patch in middle, anteclypeus black, postclypeus pale. Base of mandibles pale. Antennae black. Most of frons black, pale colour bordering eyes extends broadly beyond level of middle ocellus. Vertex black

3 Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from Yunnan, China 45 with a pair of tear-shaped pale spots beside lateral ocelli. In life eyes dark brown above, pale greenish below (Fig. 1a). Thorax (Figs 1a, 2b) Black with chrome yellow markings. Prothorax black with large rounded yellow dot on either side of middle lobe; middle lobe with yellow lateral margin. Posterior lobe slightly raised in the middle, but smoothly rounded. Synthorax black with yellow stripes; antehumeral stripes broad anteriorly, tapered strongly and slightly clubbed posteriorly, nearly meeting ante-alar triangle; two broad lateral stripes, one rather irregular a) b) Figure 1. Photographs of live males; (a) Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov., holotype male, 4 th October 2013; (b) Anisopleura qingyuanensis, from Guiyang, Guizhou, China, 8 th August Photographs by H-mZ

4 46 H.-m. Zhang, M. Hämäläinen & Q.-h. Cai and extending on both sides of the first lateral suture, the other covering most of metepimeron. Synthorax below black with yellow patches anteriorly, divided by a thin black line medially. Legs black with sides of coxa partly greenish yellow. Femora with distinct greenish yellow basal streaks. In fore femur streak on inner surface, about ⅓ length of femur, in middle and hind femora streak on outer surface, extending ½ length of femur in the middle leg and ⅔ length of femur in hind leg. Figure 2. Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov., holotype male; (a) head, frontal view; (b) thorax, lateral view; (c) hind wing; (d) anal appendages, dorsal view; (e) anal appendages, lateral view; (f) penis.

5 Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from Yunnan, China 47 Wings (Figs 1a, 2c) Narrow, fore wing 5.2 times longer than broad. Hyaline, without any yellow tinge at base. Lower half of apex of fore wing with narrow dark patch. Pterostigma dark brown; long, covering 4 5 underlying cells. Costal border of hind wing only moderately angulated near base. Cubital space with two cross veins in fore wings and one cross vein in hind wings. Discoidal cell entire. Antenodals (in the first series) number in fore wing, in hind wing. Abdomen (Fig. 1a) Black with yellow markings as follows. S1 broadly yellow at sides. S2 with broad dorso-lateral stripe, slightly narrower in middle. Sides of S3 S7 with small basal spot and a separate stripe on each segment. On S4 S7 basal spots are connected dorsally, but are separate on S3. The lateral stripes become narrower and shorter in each segment; S8 S10 black, in life slightly pruinescent on dorsum of S9 S10. Anal appendages black; superiors partly overlap each other. In dorsal view superiors appear axe-shaped (Figs 2d, 3a); very broad, with thick outer edge turned up to form a lip, interiorly hollowed to form thinner blade ; outer margin strongly recurved, narrowing internally and terminating in a strong forward pointing spine. Outer lateral part also with sub-ventral lobe forming conspicuous projection; this in dorsal view curving inward terminally and strongly notched a) b) Figure 3. Anal appendages of male; (a) Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov., paratype, dorsal view; (b) Anisopleura qingyuanensis, male from Shennongjia, Hubei, China, dorsal view.

6 48 H.-m. Zhang, M. Hämäläinen & Q.-h. Cai forming two strong terminal teeth; in lateral view appearing as ventral conical projection (Fig. 2e). Inferiors rudimentary. Superiors above slightly prui nescent in living specimen. Penis Lateral filaments of penis head long, flattened and curled (Fig. 2f). Measurements [mm] Abdomen (incl. anal appendages) 36.0; hind wing Female Unknown. Variability in paratype males The extent of pale bluish green colour on the labrum is variable; in the paratypes the labrum is nearly completely pale, only the borders narrowly black. In the paratypes the dorso-lateral spots at base of the abdominal segments are not connected mid-dorsally in any segment. The number of antenodals (the first series) in the paratypes is and in fore wing and and in hind wing. Measurements [mm] Abdomen (incl. anal appendages) ; hind wing Distribution Presently known only from south-western Yunnan, China. Notes on biology The males were collected during a rather short visit (between 14:30 15:00 h CST) to a shady stream in mountain forest. The stream, passing a road in the first author s route that day, was about m wide with sandy substrate, there were some large boulders in its open section but these were absent from the shady part visited. The current was not strong. The individuals of the new species stayed in the shelter of dense bush, 2 3 m above the water surface, but perched on leaves which were exposed to the rays of sun. This behaviour was different from that of individuals of the other calopterygoid

7 Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. from Yunnan, China 49 Table 1. List of known Anisopleura species. Species known to occur in China are marked with an asterisk. Species with several (3 5) cross veins in cubital space. Anisopleura comes Hagen, 1880 Anisopleura subplatystyla Fraser, 1927 (syn. Anisopleura lieftincki Prasad & Ghosh, 1984) *Anisopleura zhengi Yang, 1996 *Anisopleura yunnanensis Zhu & Zhou, 1999 Species with 1 or 2 cross veins in cubital space. Anisopleura lestoides Selys, 1853 (syn. Anisopleura kusumi Sahni, 1965) *Anisopleura furcata Selys, 1891 Anisopleura vallei St. Quentin, 1937 *Anisopleura qingyuanensis Zhou, 1982 Anisopleura trulla Hämäläinen, 2003 Anisopleura bipugio Hämäläinen & Karube, 2013 *Anisopleura pelecyphora Zhang, Hämäläinen & Cai, sp. nov. species present, Matrona nigripectus Selys, 1879 and Euphaea ochracea Selys, 1859, which kept to the open section of the stream, near the water surface. Discussion Within its genus, Anisopleura pelecyphora sp. nov. belongs to the speciesgroup with only 1 or 2 cross veins in the cubital space of wings (Tab. 1). Therefore the new species can be separated from A. comes, A. subplatystyla, A. yunnanensis and A. zhengi (which have 3 5 cross veins) by this character alone. The A. pelecyphora male can be separated from the other species with 1 2 cross veins by a combination of other characters. In this group, only A. bipugio and A. qingyuanensis have similar, moderate angulation at the hind wing border of the male as present in A. pelecyphora (Fig. 2c); in other species of the genus the angulation is much more pronounced. Unlike other species in the genus, A. bipugio male has two long horns on the posterior lobe of the prothorax. Anisopleura pelecyphora is easy to distinguish from

8 50 H.-m. Zhang, M. Hämäläinen & Q.-h. Cai A. qingyuanensis by its hyaline wings, the wing bases of A. qingyuanensis being distinctly yellow tinted (Fig. 1b). The structure of anal appendages of A. pelecyphora (Fig. 3a) and A. qingyuanensis (Fig. 3b) is quite similar, but in A. pelecyphora the superiors in dorsal view are proportionally broader and the margin is more strongly recurved. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr Albert G. Orr for his critical reading of the text and for improving the English expression. He and Dr Heinrich Fliedner kindly provided help in finding a suitable species epithet for the new species. This work was funded by the Major S&T Special Project of Water Pollution Control and Management (2012ZX ). Fraser F.C Zoological results of the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to Yunnan under the leadership of Professor J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. (1922). Odonata. Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (NS) 19: Hämäläinen M. & Karube H Anisopleura bipugio sp. nov. from southern Vietnam (Odonata: Euphaeidae). Tombo Acta Odonatologica Japonica 55: Hämäläinen M. & Subramanian K.A Anisopleura lieftincki Prasad & Ghosh, 1984 a junior synonym of A. subplatystyla Fraser, 1927 (Odonata: Euphaeidae). Notulae odonatologicae 8 (3): Morton K.J Notes on the Odonata of Yunnan, with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1928 [vol. 76]: Needham J.G A manual of the dragonflies of China. A monographic study of the Chinese Odonata. [Zoologia Sinica, Series A. Invertebrates of China, Volume XI, Fascicle 1.] The Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, Peiping References Needham J.G Corrections and additions to the manual of the dragonflies of China. Peking Natural History Bulletin 6 (3): 1-3 Sui J.-z. & Sun H.-g Common species of dragonflies from China. Agriculture Publishing House, Beijing [In Chinese, English title] Zhou W A new species of the genus Anisopleura from Zhejiang. Entomotaxonomia 4: [In Chinese, English summary] Zhu H. & Zhou W A new species of the genus Anisopleura Selys from Yunnan (Odonata: Euphaeidae). Wuyi Science Journal 15: [In Chinese, English summary]