Kyphopteryx coniformis Chen & Du, 2019

Du, Yu-Zhou & Chen, Zhi-Teng, 2019, Review of the rare and little-known Chinese species of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera), with description of two new species of Kyphopteryx, Zootaxa 4550 (1), pp. 129-134 : 131-132

Kyphopteryx coniformis Chen & Du , sp. nov.

Figs. 10–16 .

Male. Body length 10.5 mm, forewings length 8.5 mm, hindwings length 7.0 mm. General color brown. Head rounded, nearly as wide as pronotum; paired ocelli and compound eyes hyaline (in ethanol); antennae brown and slender. Pronotum subquadrate with dark rugosities, corners obtuse ( Figs. 10–11 ). Wings hyaline, veins brown. Forewing mottled and banded, with seven costal cross-veins between h and end of Sc, and two cross-veins between RA and RP; RP with three branches; M forked; CuA with three complete branches; CuP simple; AA1 curved back basally; AA2 with two branches ( Fig. 12 ). Hindwing subtriangular but apically damaged, with at least four costal cross-veins between h and end of Sc, and at least one cross-vein between RA and RP; RP with at least two branches; six anal veins present ( Fig. 12 ). Legs mottled ( Fig. 10 ).

The median process of abdominal tergum 2 subtriangular, back curved with a dentate apex; posterior margin of abdominal tergum 2 with sparse spines. Abdominal tergum 3 with flattened, toothed posterior margin, medially with a dentate, rounded process ( Fig. 13 ). Abdominal tergum 10 separated and slightly sclerotized, the hairy hemiterga resembling a butterfly from dorsal aspect ( Fig. 14 ). Basal plate of the epiproct sclerotized with two lateral arms reaching hemiterga. Epiproct coniform and with a median concave area from dorsal view, apex blunt with a small ventral lobe; from lateral view, epiproct curved forward, gradually tapering from base to near tip, subapically constricted with a widened apex ( Figs. 14–15 ). Paraprocts and cerci damaged. Subgenital plate elongated, hairy and scoop-shaped, slightly constricted subapically, forming a tongue-shaped apex laterally bearing a stout spine ( Figs. 14, 16 ).

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype male, China: Yunnan Province, Deqin County, Baima Snow Mountain , 4750m, 23 February 1987, Da-Rong Yang.

Etymology. The Latin name of the species refers to the coniform shape of the epiproct from dorsal view.

Remarks. Hindwing and abdominal tips of this species were partially damaged, but the remaining characteristics including the process of abdominal tergum 3, hemiterga of abdominal tergum 10 and shape of epiproct assign this species as Kyphopteryx and undescribed. Still detectable are the paraprocts which are mostly membranous, and the short cerci. Relatively few species of the family Taeniopterygidae have been recorded from China. Historically, few collections of this family are available for study probably due to the occurrence of this family at higher altitudes and the winter emergence of adults.

Figures

FIGURE 10–16. Kyphopteryx coniformis, sp. nov. 10. Male habitus, dorsal view; 11. Male head and pronotum, dorsal view; 12. Right forewing and right hindwing, dorsal view; 13. Processes of male abdominal terga 2–3; 14. Male terminalia, dorsal view; 15. Epiproct, lateral view; 16. Male terminalia, ventral view.