Tortopus circumfluus Ulmer

Molineri, Carlos, 2010, A cladistic revision of Tor top us Needham & Murphy with description of the new genus Tortopsis (Ephemeroptera: Polymitarcyidae), Zootaxa 2481, pp. 1-36 : 20

Tortopus circumfluus Ulmer

Asthenopus sp. Eaton 1871: 59, pl. I, fig. 3 (female) Campsurus sp. Eaton 1883: 41, pl. V, fig. 8b (female) Tortopus circumfluus Ulmer 1942: 110 (female)

Material ( RBINS): holotype and paratype female imagos from Texas, no more data. Some more detail is mentioned by Eaton (1883) and Ulmer (1942): USA: Texas, Victoria?, Bosque County, Belfrage col.

Female imago (pinned). Length (mm): body (shrunken), 9.8–10.1; fore wing, 15.8–17.5; hind wing, 6.9; cerci, 5.0–5.2. General coloration whitish yellow. Furcasternal plates widely diverging posteriorly ( Fig. 18 ). Wings ( Figs. 14–16 ) membrane whitish translucent, fore wing veins C, Sc and R1 purplish brown, other longitudinal and cross veins yellowish light-brown; R3 and short intercalary vein before it present on fore wings ( Fig. 14 ). Hind wings with yellowish white veins except Sc grayish brown. Abdomen: sternum VIII with parastyli receptors located submedially ( Fig. 17 ), with relatively deep sockets and marked longitudinal furrows. Cerci whitish.

Eggs. Suboval, no attachment structures visible at 100X. Length, 340 µm; width, 260 µm.

Discussion and diagnosis. Only female adults from Texas are currently known. Ulmer´s figure ( Ulmer 1942, p. 127, fig. 17a) of the wings shows veins R3 and the intercalary before it very well developed and long, but Eaton´s (1871, pl. I, fig. 3) figure does not show these veins at all (only a 1-cell marginal intercalary attached to R2+3). The length of R 3 in Ulmer figure 17a are correct following the examination of the types. It seems that Eaton and Ulmer worked on different specimens, but Ulmer figures should be taken as valid for this species. Since the collection of the types (and only known specimens) prior to 1871, no conspecific specimens have been recorded again from Texas or other USA localities (J. G. Peters pers. comm.). A probable mislabeling of specimens prior to Ulmer´s revision should be taken as a possibility. McCafferty (1994, p. 3) confirmed the presence of T. circumfluus in Texas (citing Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty 1994), but no new specimens were collected to support the statement. Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty (1994) only give the original record of the type material, so McCafferty´s (1994, p. 3) confirmation seems erroneous. A short redescription based on the re-examination of the types is provided to account for new characters in the group. The synonymy between T. circumfluus and T. bellus is suspected but this will be confirmed only when male adults or fresh females of the former species could be collected.

Tortopus circumfluus , known only from female adults, can be distinguished from all other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) fore wing length 15.8–17.5 mm; 2) abdominal sternum VIII with relatively deep sockets and marked longitudinal furrows ( Fig. 17 ). The coloration is not longer recognizable in the old and dry specimens.

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 18. Tortopus circumfluus, female holotype. 14, fore wing; 15, hind wing (scheme); 16, hind wing, enlarged; 17, abdominal sternum VIII; 18, mesofurcasternal plates.