Dragonflies of Cusuco National Park, Honduras; checklist, new country records and the description of a new species of Palaemnema Selys, 1860 (Odonata: Platystictidae)
Author
Jocque, Merlijn
0000-0002-7196-7476
Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology (ATECO), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium. merlijnjocque @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 7196 - 7476 & Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation NPO (BINCO), Walmersumstraat 44, 3080 Glabbeek, Belgium. & Operation Wallacea, Hope House, Old Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, UK
merlijnjocque@gmail.com
Author
Garrison, Rosser
0000-0001-8586-2723
California Department of Food & Agriculture, 3294 Meadowview Road, Sacramento, California, 95832, USA argiavivida @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 8586 - 2723
argiavivida@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-09-21
5188
5
453
476
journal article
147243
10.11646/zootaxa.5188.5.3
0badc3e5-b82e-47aa-a5bc-2fbdb51008cf
1175-5326
7099139
74861290-4D3C-47C7-AD3E-A01BBF6B54D1
8.
Palaemnema lorae
Jocque & Garrison
,
n. sp.
Figs. 2–4, 6–10
Holotype
♂
:
HONDURAS
:
Cortés
Dept., CNP,
Cantiles
,
Trail
5, small river close to camp,
N15.513457
W88.241681
;
1846m
,
23 June 2012
collected by
Merlijn Jocque
, field code:
BINCO
_HON_12_047 (
RBINS
).
Paratypes
: same data but:
20 June 2013
,
1♂
;
same data but:
4 August 2013
,
1♂
;
same data but:
30 July 2015
,
1♂
;
same data but:
9 June 2017
,
1♂
;
Cortecito
camp,
N15.521825
W88.288277
,
1363m
,
29 June 2011
, collected by
Merlijn Jocque
,
1♂
;
field codes:
BINCO
_HON_11_029,
BINCO
_HON_13_038-039,
BINCO
_HON_15_051,
BINCO
_HON_17_007 (
RWG
);
El Danto
camp,
Tr
4, CNP,
Honduras
,
N15.53593
W88.2854
,
1481m
,
28 June 2014
, collected by
Merlijn Jocque
,
2♂♂
; field codes:
BINCO
_HON_14_091-092 (MJ).
Etymology
: Named
lorae
(Latinized name) after Lore Geeraert, friend of the senior author who contributed to the study of dragonflies in CNP and in honor of her love for all living things and the rainforest.
Description of
holotype
(colors not well preserved,
Fig. 2
)
Head
: labium ivory white with tips of median and lateral lobes and movable hook becoming black; maxilla palp ivory white, maxillary palps black; labrum pale margined apically in black; genae, clypeus and base of mandibles pale; antefrons pale, postfrons pale margined basally with black; remainder of head black with metallic reflections and with an obscure brown spot laterad to lateral ocellus; rear of head entirely black; transverse occipital carina present but poorly developed, its lateral extremity not angular or pronounced but merging with remainder of occipital lobe.
Thorax
. Prothorax black dorsally, lateral portion of middle lobe pale; propleuron black; most of mesepisterum including dorsal carina black, merging above with black on mesepisternum, pale antehumeral stripe narrow, enlarged basally and narrowing dorsally and ending before antealar sinus; posterior half of mesepimeron and anterior half of metepisternum pale; broad black metepleural stripe present, its posterior margin of varied outline, an obscure pale spot just below antealar carina and anterior to obsolete mesopleural suture (
Figs. 2, 6
), venter of thorax ivory; coxae and trochanters ivory (possibly blue in life); femora pale but darkened apically, protibia largely black; meso- and metatibiae mostly pale with obscure dark areas along margins; tarsi and armature black.
Wings
hyaline, venation (
Fig. 8
,
paratype
) black; pterostigma elongate, rhomboid, brown, surmounting 1 ¾ cells in all wings; Px Fw: 19/20, Hw 18/17; RP
2
at Fw 8/8, Hw: 7/7; IR
1
at Fw 10/9, Hw 9/9; MP ending at level origin of IR
1
in
Fw, 2.5 cells distal to origin of IR
1
in
Hw.
Abdomen
including appendages black except for obscure lateral basal rings on S4–7 (
Figs. 2–4
).
Genital ligula (
Fig. 9
) of
type
B of
Calvert (1931)
. Cercus (
Fig. 9
) semicircular armed above with a small dorsal tooth at 0.5 of appendage length, apex of cercus entire; paraproct semicircular, about ¾ length of cercus, the distal 0.50 laminar, concave medially, its tip ending in a simple medially directed unmodified spine.
Dimensions
: Hw 33, abdomen 48, total length 57.
Variation in
paratypes
: Extent of black on mesepimeron varies with
two males
with entire mesepimeron black (
Fig. 7
). Px Fw: 20–21; Hw: 18–20; RP
2
at Fw 6–8, Hw: 7; IR
1
at Fw 9–11, Hw 8–9; Hw: 32–35; Abdomen:48– 51.
Diagnosis
: A large species (
56–60mm
) with pale colors most likely blue in life (
Fig. 3
) with tip of paraproct ending in a simple acute tip (
Fig. 9
). Male of
P. lorae
is larger than any known congener with the exception of
P. gigantula
Calvert, 1931
. However, in the latter species the wings are comparatively shorter with the Hw extending about midway to S5 (
Fig. 5
) compared to about midway to S
6 in
P. lorae
(
Fig. 2
). S8–10 are primarily blue in
P. gigantula
but entirely black in
P. lorae
. Male of
P. lorae
keys in
Calvert (1931)
to couplet OO (Abdominal segment nine black) then to
P. carmelita
Ris, 1918
(RR. Superior appendages with apex not excised, superior tooth at 0.48– 0.53 of appendage length; basal tooth of inferiors at a most blunt or triangular tubercle; penis form B; mesepimeron and metepisternum obscure bronze violet) but differs from that species as follows: (contrasting characters for
P. carmelita
in parentheses): Narrow pale antehumeral stripe present (absent); tip of paraproct ending in a simple medially directed unmodified spine (ending in a spatulate tooth with a shallow apical notch,
Fig. 11
, enlarged and redrawn from
Kennedy, 1938
). All examined specimens of
P. lorae
were preserved in ETOH upon capture and, over time, color pattern became obscured upon drying. Some specimens (including
holotype
) also suffered thoracic pressure distortions resulting in buckling of the venter of the thorax.
Biology
:
Palaemnema lorae
was observed within an elevational range of
1363‒1846m
along fast flowing crystal-clear forest streams. Forest was mostly lower montane rain forest. Damselflies were observed moving around during brief moments of sunshine penetrating the often-cloudy environment. Otherwise, a gentle beating of the vegetation close to the river edges could trigger movement of individuals. This species is thus far known only from the
type
locality where it was rare.