Coenagrion aculeatum, Yu, Xin & Bu, Wenjun, 2007

Yu, Xin & Bu, Wenjun, 2007, Two new species of Coenagrion Kirby, 1890, from China (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae), Zootaxa 1664, pp. 55-59 : 55-58

Coenagrion aculeatum sp. nov.

Material. Holotype: male, China, Chongqing, Jiangjin, 23-V-2001, Haijiang Yan leg. Paratype: 1 male, same data but 21-V-2001. Holotype will be deposited in Life Sciences College of Hebei University, Baoding, China. Paratype will be deposited in Institute of Entomology, Life Sciences College of Nankai University, Tianjin, China.

Etymology. Species epithet refers to the second pair of short spine-like lateral lobes ( Battin, 1993) of the genital ligula.

Description. Male. Labium pale yellow. Labrum, bases of mandibles, genae, anteclypeus and frons blue; base of labrum and postclypeus black; top of head including antennae black, postocular spots blue, almost triangular; postoccipital stripe absent. Prothorax almost entirely black, blue laterally ( Fig. 9 ); synthorax black dorsally, with blue antehumeral stripes; sides blue, with a black stripe along second lateral suture ( Fig. 3 ). Legs pale yellow with extensor surfaces of femora, flexor surfaces of tibiae, tarsi and claws black. Wings hyaline, pterostigmata brown, braced, each covering one cell. Abdomen blue with black as follows: basal half of segment 1, segment 2 with an irregular longitudinal stripe laterally and connecting above at 0.70 ( Fig. 3 ), lateral and apical 0.20 of segments 3 and 4, almost all of segment 5 except for basal half dorsally, all of segment 6, all of segment 7 except distal dorsal 0.30 ( Fig. 1 ); segments 8 and 9 blue except for black laterally, segment 10 entirely black. Caudal appendages black, as figured in figures 4–6. Cercus as long as segment 10, a little shorter than paraproct. Genital ligula ( Figs. 7–8 ) with shield-like head and apical lobes in the form of a pair of flagella and with a second pair of short spine-like lateral lobes.

Measurements (mm): abdomen + appendages 27. 5; hind wing 18. 5.

Diagnosis. This new species is similar to C. puella (Linnaeus) in body size, coloration pattern (except for marks on the second abdominal segment), and shape of ligula, but differs by lacking the interior tooth ( Battin, 1993) on the tip of the cercus. It is similar to C. bifurcatum in body size and coloration pattern, but lacks the bifurcate paraproct.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Coenagrion aculeatum, male: (1) body, lateral; (2) abdomen, dorsal; (3) head and thorax; (4) caudal appendage, dorsal; (5) caudal appendage, lateral; (6) caudal appendage, dorsal oblique; (7) penile organ, ventral; (8) penile organ, lateral; (9) pronotum.