Austronemoura rufescens ( Blanchard, 1851 ) Blanchard, 1851

Murányi, Dávid, Gamboa, Maribet & Vera, Alejandro, 2016, Lost and found: the Plecoptera types of Blanchard and Mabille, with further contributions to the stoneflies of Chile, Zootaxa 4200 (4), pp. 544-560 : 549-550

Austronemoura rufescens ( Blanchard, 1851) , comb. n.

( Figs. 9–20 )

Nemoura rufescens Blanchard, 1851 — Blanchard 1851: 102. (original description of the adult); Blanchard 1854: Pl. 1., Fig. 5 . (habitus figure on a syntype); Claassen 1940: 62. (catalog, valid species); Aubert 1960: 60. (nomen nudum); Illies 1961: 99. (nomen nudum); Illies 1966: 472. (nomen oblitum); Hallan 2006 (catalog, nomen oblitum); Froehlich 2010: 187. (catalog, nomen oblitum); DeWalt et al. 2016 (catalog, valid species).

Perla infuscata Blanchard, 1851 , syn. n. — Blanchard 1851: 100. (original description of the adult); Jakobson & Bianchi 1905: 617. ( Perla blanchardi nom. n., nec. Isogenus infuscatus Newman, 1838 = Perla infuscata (Newman, 1838) comb. n. Pictet, 1841); Claassen 1940: 134. (catalog); Illies 1964b: 209. (nomen nudum); Froehlich 2010: 187. (catalog, nomen praeoccupatum); DeWalt et al. 2016 (catalog, synonym).

Perla blanchardi Jakobson & Bianchi, 1905 , syn. n. — Jakobson & Bianchi 1905: 617. (nom. n. for Perla infuscata Blanchard, 1851 ); Claassen 1940:134. (catalog); Illies 1964b: 209. (nomen nudum); Illies 1966: 498. (nomen oblitum); Froehlich 2010: 187. (catalog, nomen oblitum); DeWalt et al. 2016 (catalog, nomen dubium in Anacroneuriini Stark & Gaufin, 1976, not classified to genera).

Diagnosis. Male paraproct: lower lobe slender, strongly curved and with an apical spine; upper lobe with widened base, and laterally flattened, strongly curved medial and apical section, with two small apical spine. Male epiproct: dorsal plate lacks basal callus, with raised, diverging dark projections; lower cup wide and bulging, with distinct, beak-like apex.

Material examined. LECTOTYPE ♂ of Nemoura rufescens Blanchard, 1851 , present designation: CHILE, Valdivia ( NMPC, transferred to alcohol vial) ( Labels , kept in box IV.17: Museum Paris / Chili / Gay 15-43 (printed); 15 / 43 (handwritten round label); Type (red, printed); Valdivia (handwritten, maybe of Gay)) ; LECTOTYPE ♂ of Perla infuscata Blanchard, 1851 , present designation: CHILE ( NMPC, transferred to alcohol vial) ( Labels , kept in box IV.17: Museum Paris / Chili / Gay 15-43 (printed); 15 / 43 (handwritten round label); Type (red, printed); Perla / infuscata / Blanc (Blanchard handwritten)) ; CHILE, Region XIV (Los Ríos), Valdivia, Oncol , 13.i.2006, leg. Arias, E.: 1♂ ( MCCN) .

Redescription. Medium sized species, macropterous ( Figs. 16–20 ). Forewing length: lectotype of N. rufescens 6.2 mm, lectotype of P. infuscata 6.8 mm. Head brown, details shaded by desiccation, antenna probably darker. Pronotum wider than long, corners rounded. Legs pale, femora with darker distal ring; wings with brownish pattern but obscured by specimen condition, venation brown. Abdomen pale except for brown terminal segments. Pilosity generally short but longer on terminalia.

Male terminalia ( Figs. 9–13 ): Sternite IX with thin basal bars medially connected and holding a moderatelly long vesicle; vesicle three times longer than wide, apical half armed with short, stocky spines. Subgenital plate is separated from other sclerites, square but posterior margin rounded, its apex broadly upcurved then continued in a straight, needle-like apex as long as the vesicle; the apex is bare, while the subgenital plate bear long setae. Paraproct fully divided into lower (medial) and upper (dorso-lateral) lobes. Lower lobe is slightly bulging basally, medial portion thin while apex widened again, with rough inner surface and a terminal spine; the lobe laterally diverging, then the apex curved inwards, bear scarce setation but with longer setae on inner surface of the apex. Upper lobe with basal section widened, densely setose and distinct from the bare, laterally flattened medial section that is curved dorsad, bear well sclerotized, inner-medial ridge; apex is forming a laterally flattened and rounded pocket at the end of the ridge, its dorsal surface bear short but distinct setae and two small apical spines on dorsal surface. Cerci long and slender, with slightly pointed apex. Tergite IX weakly sclerotized and unmodified. Tergite X medially connected only with weak antecosta, dorso-lateral portion with indistinct humps. Median sclerite weakly sclerotized and setose, hardly limited from dorsal plates of epiproct. Epiproct consist of strong dorsal plate, stripe-like lateral bars and bulging lower cup. Dorsal plate of epiproct bear no basal callus, basally narrow and covered with dense setae but its raised, paired dark apical portion is bald; the two projections diverging and separeted by a narrow membranous medial area. Lateral epiproct bars are slightly undulated, each ends in knoblike apex beneath the dark projections of the dorsal plate. Lower cup of epiproct basally weakly sclerotized but bear dense, long setae, wide and curved up dorsally; its apex is distinctly separated, beak-like and strongly sclerotized, directed backward and points to the dorsal plate.

Female: Unknown.

Affinities. Austronemoura rufescens seems to be the closest to A. chilena Aubert, 1960 and A. auberti McLellan & Zwick, 1996 , having similar paraprocts and ventral surface of the terminalia. However, distinctly differs from the above species by the lack of basal callus and presence of diverging apical projections on the dorsal plate of epiproct. The combination of paraproctal and epiproctal characters clearly separate A. rufescens from the seven further congeneric species.

Distribution. The species was described on the basis of specimens from Valdivia and San Carlos. Unfortunately, no identifiable specimens remained from San Carlos, and the lectotype of P. infuscata bears no locality data besides “ Chile ”. Presently, we have to treat this species as restricted to the vicinity of Valdivia, from where we can confirm from a recently collected specimen.

Remarks. In the original box, there were three specimens pinned together as types of N. rufescens ( Fig. 14 ). Whereas the specimen bearing an identification label with Blanchard's handwriting is detached from the plastic sheet and the specimen from San Carlos is represented by only a forewing fragment, the Valdivia specimen is in relatively good condition. Characters of the latter agree well with the brief description and the original figure that clearly depicts a Notonemouridae , thus, we feel justified to designate this specimen as the lectotype. As already mentioned above, the three identifiable syntypes of P. infuscata belong to three genera ( Fig. 15 ). The brief original description does not allow a conclusion if it is a Notonemouridae or a Gripopterygidae . In addition, for nomenclatorial stability, the fact that the Austronemura specimen is the one bearing Blanchard's handwritten identification label justifies its selection as the lectotype and to further treat P. infuscata and P. blanchardi as junior subjective synonyms of A. rufescens .

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 13. Male terminalia of Austronemoura rufescens (Blanchard, 1851), comb. n., lectotype, Chile— 9: terminalia, ventral view; 10: terminalia, dorsal view; 11: left upper lobe of paraproct, lateral view; 12: terminalia, lateral view; 13: epiproct, caudo-dorsal view—scales 1 mm, scale 1 to Figs. 9 – 10, 12, scale 2 to Figs. 11, 13.

FIGURES 14 – 20. Type specimens of Nemoura rufescens Blanchard, 1851 and Perla infuscata Blanchard, 1851 — 14: syntypes of N. rufescens in the original box; 15: syntypes of P. infuscata in the original box; 16: body and hind wings of the lectotype of N. rufescens; 17: forewing of the paralectotype of N. rufescens; 18: forewings of the lectotype of N. rufescens; 19: body and hind wings of the lectotype of P. infuscata; 20: forewing of the lectotype of P. infuscata — scales 1 mm.

FIGURES 3 – 8. Gripopterygidae specimens of the Mabille and Blanchard collection— 3: existing portions of the P. myrmidon holotype, transferred to alcohol; 4: holotype female of Perla myrmidon (Mabille, 1891) glued on paper sheets, and its associated labels; 5: relaxed terminalia of the P. myrmidon holotype, ventral view; 6: paralectotype of P. stictica Blanchard, 1851; 7: subgenital plate of Teutoperla sp., ventral view; 8: subgenital plate of Teutoperla sp., lateral view—scales 1 mm.