Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data
Author
Zwick, Peter
0000-0002-6730-0011
pleco-p.zwick@t-online.de
Author
Zwick, Andreas
0000-0002-7532-1752
andreas.zwick@csiro.au
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-07-17
5316
1
1
194
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5316.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5316.1.1
1175-5326
8154005
BC922E16-2614-4F3D-AD82-87A845DE7E2B
15.
Neoperla coffea
n. sp.
(
Figs. 74–75
)
Type material studied:
Republic of Cameroon
,
♀
Holotype
:
5°1'17.65''N
,
9°46'10.39''E
,
Cameroon
, SW-Reg.,
7km
S Bangem
,
Ebonmin
, coffee plantation,
1470m
asl
,
29 Oct 2011
, MV-lamp,
A.Zwick
(
NEOP046
;
SMNS
).
FIGURES 69–75.
Neoperla pickeri
n. sp.
and
N. coffea
n. sp.
, female holotypes.
N. pickeri
: 69, genital situs; the vagina is transparent and the coiled spermatheca is visible only as a faint shadow, lines indicate location of enlarged details (not to scale); 70, lateral view of an egg; 71, diagram of chorion structure 72, fragment with collar and stem of anchor, in polar view; 73, fragment of the deeply reticulate operculum.
N. coffea
: 74, genital situs, transverse lines mark borders between sternites 7 and 8, and 8 and 9, respectively; 75, egg. Scales are 100µm. co, costa; mi, micropyle; mic, micropylar canal; od, oviduct; sa spermatheca, SSt spermathecal stalk; su, sulcus; V, vagina.
Habitus
. WL
15.1 mm
. Yellow, a black spot with short tip across the ocelli. Pronotum greyish. Palpi and antenna black, base of scape with a pale spot. Legs light, tibiae and tarsi infuscate. Cercus yellow (distal half missing). Front wings grey, veins brown, costal space yellow.
Male
. Unknown.
Female
(
Fig. 74
). S8 unmodified. Vagina about as long as S8, numerous transverse folds in anterior part, in basal half only lateral wrinkles. SSt short, a wide curved half-tube with some longitudinal folds, inside with dense cover of slender flat pale scales. Receptacle damaged, apparently curled.
Egg
(
Fig. 75
). 344*257 µm, plump, drop-shaped, the rounded operculum is wide, the anchor pole narrow. No striae, surface finely and irregularly punctate, chorion at equator thicker than near poles. Brown, a pale line of varying width marks the eclosion line. In optical sections it seems to interrupt the chorion and leave only membranous connections between the hard edges. Micropyles unmodified, much larger than the fine surface punctures which in optical section resemble tiny radial lines not attaining the smooth inner face of the eggshell. No collar, anchor cavity with narrow opening but widening inside the egg, anchor mushroom-shaped.
DNA
(
Figs. 491–493
).
Only the female
holotype
from
Cameroon
was sequenced with the genome-skimming approach, obtaining 11,001bp of mitochondrial, protein-coding genes.
Its
placement as sister to
N. pickeri
n. sp.
is well supported (46.6/97/100)
.
Notes
. Female genitalia and the egg of
N. coffea
are unique. Several Philippine females in the
N. montivagagroup
also have eggs with a pale eclosion line (
Sivec 1984
).
Etymology
. The female
holotype
was taken in a coffee plantation, the scientific name of the plant was chosen as name of the insect. A noun in apposition.