Two new species and three new provincial records of Neoperla (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from Nanling Mountains, China Author Mo, Raorao 0000-0001-9480-092X Guangxi key laboratory of Agric-Environment and Agric-Products Safety and National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, Agricultural College, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, China & Department of Plant Protection, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China & Department of Zoology, Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Leányka u. 6, Eger H- 3300, Hungary & 1689832746 @ qq. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 9480 - 092 X 1689832746@qq.com Author Wang, Ying 0000-0002-4232-4172 Department of Plant Protection, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China & wangying 198586 @ 163. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 4232 - 4172 Author Wang, Guoquan 0000-0003-1693-1654 Guangxi key laboratory of Agric-Environment and Agric-Products Safety and National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, Agricultural College, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, China & wangguoquan 0 @ 163. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 1693 - 1654 Author Li, Weihai 0000-0003-2803-4416 Department of Plant Protection, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, China & lwh 7969 @ 163. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 2803 - 4416 Author Murányi, Dávid 0000-0002-3907-5590 Department of Zoology, Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Leányka u. 6, Eger H- 3300, Hungary & d. muranyi @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 3907 - 5590 d.muranyi@gmail.com text Zootaxa 2021 2021-09-21 5040 2 195 214 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5040.2.2 1175-5326 5531145 2A7BEAE7-BC5D-4CED-9550-E06E9F3CE1E0 Neoperla annulatispina Mo, Li & Wang , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 ) Adult habitus ( Fig. 1 ). Body color generally dark brown, abdomen pale. Head pale, with a prominent dark brown rectangular ocellar patch, and a smaller, semicircular spot interrupted by M-line; palpi brown; antennae generally brown, basal part paler; biocellate, the distance between ocelli ca. 2.0 X as wide as the diameter of the ocellus; head slightly wider than pronotum. Pronotum dark brown and rectangular, with scattered, dark rugosities and a pair of pale lateral areas; corners rounded. Wings brownish and transparent, veins dark brown; legs dark brown, basal two third of femora pale ( Fig. 1e ); cerci pale. Male ( Figs. 1b–1d , 2a–2e ). Forewing length 11.0– 12.4 mm (N=3). Tergum 6 with a posteromedial patch of sensilla basiconica. Tergum 7 with an anteromedian pair of sclerotized, upraised, nipple-shaped processes and a distal rectangular process on posterior margin covered with sensilla basiconica. Tergum 8 with a recurved triangular process, fringed with small distal spines. Tergum 9 with two paramedial patches of long hairs. Hemitergal processes of tergum 10 upcurved, finger-like. Aedeagus mostly membranous, falciform ( Figs. 2a–2e ). Aedeagal tube mostly straight, only dorsal surface sclerotized ( Figs. 2a, 2c–2d ). Aedeagal sac slightly longer than tube and curved ventrally, forming a right angle to tube; dorsolateral surface with 2–3 irregular rows of small spines; subapical portion with a complete ring of small spines; apical surface densely covered with tiny spinules; apical portion with a H-shaped, dark uneverted flagella ( Figs. 2a–2e ). Female ( Figs. 2f– 2g ). Forewing length 13.0– 14.5 mm (N=2). Habitus generally similar to male except dark brown marking on head is more extensive. Sternum 8 lightly sclerotized; the posteromedial margin slightly produced forming a small quadrate sclerotized subgenital plate. Eggs . Available females were void of matured eggs. Type Material . Holotype : male ( HIST ), China : Guangdong Province , Shaoguan City , Chebaling National Nature Reserve , Xiba , N 24°43’48” , E 114°15’36’’ , 360 m , 2016.V.1 , light trap , Luo , Liu , Xun & Zhao . Paratypes : 1 male and 1 female ( CAU ) , 1 male and 1 female ( HIST ), same locality and date as holotype . Etymology . The specific name refers to the ringed section of small spines of aedeagus. Latin “annulatus” means ringed and “spina” means spine. Distribution . China : Guangdong , Chebaling National Nature Reserve ( Fig. 15 ). The exact habitat is unknown. Remarks . The new species is a member of the Neoperla montivaga species group ( Zwick 1983 ). The new species shares similar head pattern, terminalia and aedeagus with N. nigromarginata Li & Zhang, 2014 known from Henan Province of Central China . However, the new species can be separated from the latter by the following features: the paired lateral pale area of pronotum is smaller; aedeagal sac only with 2–3 irregular rows of small spines in dorsolateral surface; subapical spinous ring is complete; paired apical flagella is linked by a short sclerotized band. In N. nigromarginata , the paired lateral pale area of pronotum is bigger, comprising about 50% of the total surface; aedeagal sac with 2–3 irregular rows of small spines in dorsal surface and a large lateral patch of small spines, without subapical spinous ring or the ring is not complete; paired apical flagella are not connected. In addition, subgenital plate of female sternum 8 of N. nigromarginata has a small median notch at posterior margin, while the subgenital plate of the new species lacks a median notch. The COI sequence of Neoperla annulatispina Mo, Li & Wang , sp. nov. and N. nigromarginata had a consistent length of 659 bp, and both biased toward A and T nucleotides ( N. annulatispina : 26.0% A, 21.3 C, 18.6% G and 34.1% T; N. nigromarginata : 26.3% A, 21.7 C, 18.1% G and 34.0% T). The genetic distances were calculated for the 16 sequenced specimens ( Table 2 ). In our study, pairwise distances of the two Neoperla species were 2.0–2.8%; with an average of 2.3%, slightly higher than 2% threshold considered for a rough differentiation between intraspecific and interspecific distances ( Hebert et al . 2003 ; Zhou et al . 2009 ). The minimum and average interspecific sequence divergences of the two species are higher than the maximum intraspecific sequence divergences (0.6–1.1%) without overlap ( Table 2 ). In the Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree ( Fig. 3 ), male and female specimens of N. annulatispina are grouped in the same clade, separated from the clade of male and females of N. nigromarginata . The combination of morphology and molecular data suggest that N. annulatispina is a new species to science.