Protosticta kinabaluensis Laidlaw, 1915

Dow, Rory A., Phan, Quoc Toan & Choong, Chee Yen, 2020, Protosticta joepani sp. nov. from Borneo with notes on P. kinabaluensis Laidlaw 1915 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae), Zootaxa 4729 (3), pp. 371-387 : 383-385

Protosticta kinabaluensis Laidlaw, 1915

( Figs 1 , 3, 5 , 7 , 9, 11 , 15, 16 , 18 , 20, 22, 24, 26 , 28, 30 , 32, 34 , 35 , 37, 38 )

Selected references:

Protosticta kinabaluensis Laidlaw, 1915 ;— Laidlaw 1915: 37–38 (original description male, Mount Kinabalu);— Laidlaw 1924: 306 (brief discussion);— Lieftinck 1933: 285 (in key to Bornean species supposed to be in Protosticta );— Lieftinck 1954: 31–32;— Orr 2003: 72, Figs 91, 92 (brief discussion, photographs of both sexes).

Protosticta kinabaluense ;— Laidlaw 1934: 551 (listed from Mount Kinabalu).

Material examined. All from Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. 1 ♂ (SAB5_PST3), Sungai Liwagu, ca 1500m a.s.l., Headquarters area at Mount Kinabalu National Park, West Coast Division, (ca 6.008N, 116.549E), ca 1500m a.s.l. 30 iv 2005, leg. unknown, in coll. Dow; 3 ♂♂ (SAB12_PST20; SAB12_PST71, RMNH.INS.507705; SAB12_PST74, RMNH.INS.507710), 2 ♀♀ (SAB12_PST21, SAB12_PST70; RMNH.INS.507701), Silau-Silau stream and trail, same area, (ca 6.007N, 116.545E), ca 1500–1600m a.s.l., 13 ix 2012, leg. R. A. Dow, in coll. Dow and RMNH ; 1 ♀ (SAB12_PST69, RMNH.INS.507714), same data but leg. J. van Tol, in RMNH ; 1 ♂, same location, ca 1600m a.s.l., 1 v 1979, leg. S. Asahina, in NMNS .

Descriptive notes on the male. Laidlaw (1915: 37–38) gave a fairly complete description of the holotype male and an essentially accurate sketch of the anal appendages in lateral view. Here we merely expand on some details useful for distinguishing P. kinabaluensis from P. joepani or for which Laidlaw’s description is lacking. Laidlaw only described the dorsum of the head and “a pale band on the anteclypeus … the third joint of the antennae which is light yellowish brown”. In fact, the anteclypeus, and much of the labrum and mandible bases are pale ( Fig. 3 ).

Laidlaw’s description of the sides of the synthorax is vague, the reader is referred to Fig. 15 here. The yellow bands on the metepisternum and of the metepimeron are both brighter and better defined than the corresponding markings in P. joepani ( Figs 12, 14 ). The “apical triangular mark on the ventral side” of abdominal segments 3–8 is basal in the convention employed here (where the end of the segment nearest to the thorax is considered basal). The mark on S8 is visible in Fig. 22 but on this segment it extends almost the entire length of the segment. The genital ligula is similar to that of P. joepani but with a much broader internal fold ( Fig. 18 ).

The anal appendages ( Figs 28, 30 , 32, 34 ) are similar to those of P. joepani and the following notes mostly deal with differences from that species. The cerci are lacking a rounded ventral spur basally on the blade-like section, which originates further apically than in P. joepani , the dorsal spine is situated after half-length and the rounded subapical projection is situated further apically (compare Fig. 27 and Fig. 28 ). The paraprocts have a strong basal spur clearly visible in lateral view ( Fig. 28 ). The internal spur originates only slightly subapically and the main body of each paraproct is expanded dorsally at this point, the spur is more expanded apically in lateral view and longer than that in P. joepani , and does not turn through a right angle (compare Figs 29 and 30 ).

Measurements (mm). Hw 21–22, abdomen including anal appendages 33–36.

Descriptive notes on the female. The female of P. kinabaluensis has never been described, but it is sufficiently similar to the male that the illustrations and brief notes given here should suffice for identification. The female is generally similar to the male and the markings of head and thorax ( Figs 5 , 9, 11 , 16 ) are essentially the same in both sexes. The posterior pronotal lobe is simple ( Figs 9, 11 ). The markings of the abdomen are also similar to the male, even those of the terminal segments ( Figs 24, 26 ), however S7 is largely brown dorsally. The apex of the terebra of the ovipositor is visible outside the valves of S9, well developed, albeit less so than in P. joepani (compare Figs 25 and 26 ), blade-shaped, directed upwards and to the rear.

Orr (2003: 72) notes that “In females there may be faint antehumeral bands”, this might be a relatively rare condition since it is not the case in the three females examined for this study.

Measurements (mm). Hw 30, abdomen including anal appendages and ovipositor 30.

Remarks. Although not explicitly examined during this study, the holotype of P. kinabaluensis has been examined previously by the first author. The recently collected material listed above is certainly the same species.

Donnelly (1997: 126) recorded females of a Protosticta sp. from Mount Kinabalu, presumably from the park headquarters area. It is likely that this record refers to P. kinabaluensis but it could possibly refer to P. joepani or some other species (for instance some species of Telosticta ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Neighbor joining COI gene tree for fifteen specimens of Protosticta joepani and four of P. kinabaluensis plus a Drepanosticta dentifera outgroup. RMNH collection codes are shown for each specimen. Male is indicated by “m” and female by “f”, the exceptionally small sized female referred to P. joepani with reservations (see under that species) is indicated by “small”.

FIGURE 35. Distribution of Protosticta joepani (red circle) and P. kinabaluensis (yellow square).

FIGURES 2–5. Heads of Protosticta species. Protosticta joepani: (2) holotype male, dorsal-frontal view; (4) paratype female used for description, dorsal-frontal view. Protosticta kinabaluensis: (3) male (SAB5_PST3), dorsal view; (5) female (SAB12_ PST69), dorsal frontal view.

FIGURES 6–7. Prothorax of males of Protosticta species in lateral view. (6) Protosticta joepani holotype male. (7) Protosticta kinabaluensis (SAB12_PST71).

FIGURES 8–11. Prothorax of females of Protosticta species. Protosticta joepani, paratype female used for description: (8) dorsal; (10) lateral. Protosticta kinabaluensis (SAB12_PST69): (9) dorsal; (11) lateral.

FIGURES 15–16. Synthorax of Protosticta kinabaluensis in lateral view: (15) male (SAB12_PST71); (16) female (SAB12_ PST69).

FIGURES 17–18. Genital ligula of Protosticta species in ventral view. (17) Protosticta joepani paratype, Mount Kinabalu, 4 iii 2008. (18) Protosticta kinabaluensis, Mount Kinabalu, 1 v 1979.

FIGURES 19–26. Terminal abdominal segments of Protosticta species. Protosticta joepani: (19) holotype male, dorsal; (21) holotype male, lateral; (23) paratype female used for description, dorsal; (25) paratype female used for description, lateral. Protosticta kinabaluensis: (20) male (SAB12_PST71) dorsal; (22) male (SAB12_PST71) lateral; (24) female (SAB12_PST69), dorsal; (26) female (SAB12_PST69), lateral.

FIGURES 27–30. Male anal appendages of Protosticta species. All scale bars 0.2mm. Protosticta joepani: (27) holotype male, lateral; (29) holotype male, paraprocts in ventral view. Protosticta kinabaluensis: (28) male (SAB12_PST71) lateral view; (30) male (SAB12_PST71) paraprocts in ventral view.

FIGURES 31–34. Male anal appendages of Protosticta species, dorsal view. Protosticta joepani: (31) holotype male; (33) sketch of paratype, Poring Hot Springs, 4 iii 2008, right cercus removed. Protosticta kinabaluensis: (32) sketch of male, 1 v 1979; (34) male (SAB12_PST71), right cercus removed.

FIGURES 36–38. Protosticta species in life. (36) Protosticta joepani, male, Kelabit Highlands, photo by G.T. Reels. (37) Protosticta kinabaluensis, male, photo by R.A. Dow; (38) Protosticta kinabaluensis, male, photo by R.A. Dow.

FIGURES 12–14. Synthorax of Protosticta joepani in lateral view: (12) holotype male; (13) paratype female used for description; (14) dark male with purple crescentic area on mesepimeron, Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.