Untangling the waterfall damsels: a review of the Mesoamerican genus Paraphlebia Selys in Hagen, 1861 (Odonata: Thaumatoneuridae) with descriptions of 11 new species
Author
Ortega-Salas, Héctor
0000-0002-5373-4839
hector.ortegasalas@naturalis.nl
Author
González-Soriano, Enrique
0000-0002-4798-7274
esoriano@ib.unam.mx
Author
Jocque, Merlijn
0000-0002-7196-7476
merlijn.jocque@binco.eu
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-01-11
5089
1
1
66
journal article
53857
10.11646/zootaxa.5089.1.1
67fbf2b0-b944-485d-90b5-976914d338ad
1175-5326
5836060
E12F2B20-A84A-48E2-9C77-B281F1BFC62E
Paraphlebia flinti
Ortega-Salas & González-Soriano
sp. nov.
Figs. 7
(head
♂
), 20 (thorax
♂
), 33 (abdomen
♂
), 43 (wings
♂
), 78, 96 (appendages
♂
), 103, 105 (posterior lobe of prothorax
♂
), 149 (map), 156 (habitus
♂
).
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:
069F6A61-9139-4E0B-A75C-50442D077311
Holotype
.
MEXICO
•
1 ♂
;
Chiapas
,
Jitotol
,
Km
177.5 carretera federal Mex-195, 8 km al
N de Jitotol
;
17.115°N
,
92.862°W
;
1630 m
;
1 Aug 2016
;
H. Ortega-Salas
,
C. Raieli
&
I. Ángeles-Munguía
leg.;
IBUNAM
;
IBUNAM
: CNIN:OD23061.
Paratypes
.
MEXICO
•
1 ♂
;
Chiapas
,
Jitotol
, Rt.
195, km. 67,
2.9 mi.
S of Jitotol
; [
17.020°N
,
92.840°W
];
1700 m
;
11 Aug 1967
;
O.S. Flint Jr.
& M.A. Ortiz B. leg.;
TWD
;
IBUNAM
:CNIN:OD22912
• same data but
1 ♂
;
USNM
; SNMNH_383611
.
Etymology
. Named
flinti
/ˈflɪnti/ (L. noun genitive), after the late Dr. Oliver Simeon Flint Jr., renowned world expert on caddisflies and avid
Odonata
collector who first discovered this species.
Description of
holotype
Head
. Chiefly black, labrum dark glossy blue; postclypeus pale blue; frons pale blue; vertex with two pale spots anterolateral to lateral ocelli; occiput with complete pale occipital bar; eyes dark brown to black, black in life; antennal scape with pale spots on distal margin; pedicel pale on distal 0.3; flagellum first segment pale, distal segments black.
Thorax
. Prothorax: chiefly black; continuous pale stripe on lateral edges from anterior to posterior lobe, this pale area widening medially on posterior half of middle lobe, medial pale longitudinal stripe on anterior and middle lobe ending at posterior margin of middle lobe, these two stripes connected by dim line along suture between middle and posterior lobes; see
Figs. 103
,
105
for morphology. Pterothorax: chiefly black with diffuse green metallic reflections over dark colouration on mesepisternum and mesepimeron; see
Fig. 20
for colour pattern; sternum pale; femora light brown becoming black distally; tibiae brown; tarsi dark brown; claws reddish.
Wings
. Hyaline, slightly tinted amber; FW with one post-quadrangular cell, the vein that descends from the subnodus at the first post-quadrangular Vx; CuA in HW not forked, field between CuA and posterior margin with one supplementary vein on right wing. Px: FW 34/34, HW 31/31.
Abdomen
. Black with pale areas as follow: S1 with a transverse basal line that does not reach ventral carina; S2 with ventrolateral horizontal lines; S3–7 with basolateral spots; base of cerci pruinose on dorsum.
Caudal appendages
. Cerci: see
Fig. 78
for morphology. Paraprocts: well-developed, clearly forked at apex, with well-defined upper and lower branches.
Measurements. Abdomen: 38, FW: 37, HW: 35.
Variation in males.
Measurements. Abdomen: 41–42, FW: 36–37, HW: 35–36; Px: FW 30–35; Px: HW 26–29.
Description of female.
Female unknown.
Diagnosis
.
Paraphlebia flinti
belongs to a characteristic group of species with erect lateral edges on the posterior lobe of the prothorax which includes
P. kinich
and
P. hunnal
. (
Figs. 98–99, 103
).
Paraphlebia flinti
appears more closely related to
P. kinich
, as the particular morphology of their prothorax singles them out from all other species (
Figs. 105–106
). Both species present corniform projections on the laterodorsal corners of the posterior margin and can be differentiated by their shape, in
P. flinti
their tips are directed dorsally and are higher than the medial section of the posterior margin (
Fig. 105
), while in
P. kinich
they are directed laterally and are lower than the medial section of the posterior margin (
Fig. 106
). The main character separating
P. hunnal
from
P. flinti
and
P. kinich
is the convex posterior margin of the posterior lobe, the lobe seeming trifoliate in dorsal view instead of with dorsolateral corniform projections (
Figs. 98
,
107
). The shape of the paraprocts also sets these species apart; in
P. flinti
they are clearly forked, with well-developed upper and lower branches (
Fig. 96
), while in
P hunnal
the inferior lobe is small and pointed at the rear with a shallow groove possibly indicating the presence of a superior lobe (
Fig. 89
). Finally, in
P. kinich
the paraproct is reduced to a single somewhat angled lobe, the posterior margin lacking any projection (
Fig. 86
).
Natural history
. This species has been found on medium-sized streams (
1–2 m
wide) within pine-oak forest. To our knowledge this is the only species inhabiting streams in terrestrial habitats other than tropical rainforests or montane cloud forests.
Distribution
. Southeast
Mexico
: known only from two locations in the municipality of Jitotol in
Chiapas
from
1630–1700 m
.a.s.l.