Dendroleon porteri Stange, 2008

Stange, Lionel A., 2008, A new species of the genus Dendroleon Brauer from Mexico (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), Insecta Mundi 2008 (54), pp. 1-9 : 6

Dendroleon porteri Stange , new species

(Figure 3-5)

Holotype female. Colorines , Mexico, Mexico, 17.VII. 1978, C. Porter, porch light ( FSCA). One additional female specimen, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, VI. H.H. S. ( NHML).

Measurements. Length from head to tip of abdomen 23 mm, fore wing and hind wing 29 mm.

Coloration. Face pale brown, lateral dark spot on clypeus, interantennal mark dark brown band below antennae, extending onto epicranial area as a shiny dash above each antenna; vertex predominately pale brown with small, irregular dark brown areas; palpi mostly dark brown; antenna dark brown basally and apically, flagellomeres ix-xxii pale brown; pronotum pale brown with small dark brown spots at setal bases; mesonotum mostly pale brown with dark brown predominating median area; mesoscutellum and postnotum dark brown along middle; metanotum nearly all pale brown with small dark brown submedian area anterior on prescutum; pleural area with broad pale band dorsally, dark brown band ventrally; coxae mostly dark brown except medially; femur and tibia pale brown with numerous dark brown spots at setal bases, streaked with dark brown along closing face of fore femur and toward base of femur, apical dark brown ring on tibia; tarsus pale brown, small dark brown apical mark on distal tarsomere; abdomen mostly dark brown except for pale tergite I and anterior margin of tergite II; wings with many areas suffused with light brown depicted in figure 3; wings mostly pale brown.

Chaetotaxy. Fore femoral sense hair about twice as long as width of femur at point of hair origin, longer than that of mid femur.

Structure. Antenna with 36 flagellomeres; fore femur and fore tibia shorter and somewhat more swollen than those of mid leg; fore tarsus and mid tarsus about equal in proportional lengths of tarsomeres, spurs and claws; tarsomere I a little more than twice as long as middle diameter in lateral view, subequal in length to distal tarsomere; tibial spurs extending to about apex of second tarsomere, about 3.5 times longer than pretarsal claws; fore wing and hind wing falcate (figure 3); fore wing with abrupt widening of costal area at stigma; fore wing costal cells above radial sector somewhat higher than wide.

Biology. One third instar larva was found near Colorines, Mexico, living in a small crevice near the top of a 1.2 m high rock wall. The habitat was dry and rain protected with relatively fine organic material. The larva was “anchored” on the substrate.

Discussion. This species differs from the two closely related U.S. species in the shape of the wings. The falcate wings of D. porteri (Fig. 3) with the costal area abruptly broadened at the stigma are characteristic of this species and very different from the wings of D. obsoletus and D. speciosus . A Dendroleon larva was found near the type locality and is tentatively identified as this species. It died before pupation from a disease that left it unfit for description; however photographs were taken of the third instar before death (Fig. 4, 5). The distribution of this species borders the Neotropics although the two known localities are in pine forested highland Mexico which is temperate Nearctic. There are species of Dendroleon in the Old World Tropics that have falcate wings such as D. vitripennis Navás (Malay Peninsula). This species is named in honor of Dr. Charles C. Porter, noted hymenopterist, who collected the holotype.