Coeliccia cyanomelas Ris, 1912

Steinhoff, Philip O. M. & Uhl, Gabriele, 2015, Taxonomy and nomenclature of some mainland SE-Asian Coeliccia species (Odonata, Platycnemididae) using micro-CT analysis, Zootaxa 4059 (2), pp. 257-276 : 268-271

Coeliccia cyanomelas Ris, 1912

It has been suggested that Coeliccia onoi Asahina, 1997 might be a junior synonym of Coeliccia cyanomelas Ris, 1912 ( Dow 2011b) . To test the taxonomic status of these taxa, we present descriptions and illustrations of one C. cyanomelas specimen from Taiwan and one C. onoi specimen from its type locality in Vietnam ( Fig. 10 A–F). In Taiwan, only two species of Coeliccia occur, namely C. cyanomelas and C. flavicauda Ris, 1912 ( Wang 2000) . A description of the specimen from Taiwan is provided, and differences from the original descriptions by Ris (1912) and Asahina (1997), and the specimen from Vietnam are pointed out. Ris (1912) gave only a very rough sketch of the anal appendages of C. cyanomelas , and Asahina (1997) provided rough sketches of head, thorax and anal appendages of C. onoi .

Material examined. Total 2♂: 1♂ “Taihanroku, Formosa ”, 1968–70, leg. J. Cowley [ BMNH, NHMUK 010266915]. 1♂ “small rocky streamlets on roadside to Tam Dao 2” Tam Dao, Vinh Phu Province, northern Vietnam, 27.06.2008, leg. M. Hämäläinen [ RMNH].

Description. Head ( Fig. 9 A): Black with two distinct bluish white spots between lateral ocelli and antennal bases. Anteclypeus, antefrons and genae bluish white.

Prothorax ( Fig. 9 A–C): Black, lobes procumbent; sides of prothorax bluish white.

Synthorax ( Fig. 9 B–C): Dorsally black with two pairs of bluish grey marks, anterior ones larger and more oriented medially than posterior ones. Big bluish grey marking on metepisternum and metepimeron interrupted by thick black line on interpleural suture. Lower part of mesepimeron bluish grey, upper part black.

Wings ( Fig. 9 G–H): Hyaline with blackish Pt. 20 px in Fw, 19 px in Hw. RP 2 arising at px 9 in Fw and at px 7 in Hw. IR1 arises slightly distal to Px 11 in Fw and Px 9 in Hw. IR2 arises somewhat distal to subnodus in all wings.

Abdomen: Long and slender; black with lateral white spots at the ends of S3–7. Caudal third of S8, all of S9 and dorsal part and half of sides of S10 blue. Ventral and lower lateral parts of S10 black.

Anal appendages ( Fig. 9 D–F): Cerci and paraprocts bluish grey, only base of paraprocts black. Paraprocts slightly overtop cerci in length. Cerci simple and straight with strong ventromedially directed tooth.

Genital ligula ( Fig. 8 C–D, Supplementary Fig. 5 ): First segment simple, distally slightly curved; second segment with slight terminal fold and small internal fold; third segment narrow, resembling two broad coalesced flagella. Third segment with small apical fold and two thick flagella that arise at apex but are strongly recurved, positioned ventrolateral of third segment. Genital ligula of same shape in both examined specimens.

Measurements (mm): BMNH specimen: Total length: 49, Abd.: 41, Wingspan: 56, Fw/Hw (right): 26. RMNH specimen: Total length: 50, Abd.: 44, Fw (right): 29, Hw (right): 28.

Remarks. There are only two differences between the specimens in the descriptions of C. cyanomelas by Ris (1912) and C. onoi by Asahina (1997). One is the coloration of the dorsal synthorax, which has two pairs of markings in the specimens examined by Ris (1912) but only one pair in the specimen examined by Asahina. The other difference is the hook-shaped margin of the black dorsal coloration on the anterior mesepimeron and mesepisternum, which is visible in Asahina’s (1997) drawings and our specimen from Vietnam but less prominent in our specimen from Taiwan and the specimen examined by Ris (1912). Ris (1912: 66) described the black coloration on the mesepimeron as “… buchtig begrenzt …” (indented); Asahina (1997: 26) found an abrupt widening of the mesepimeral black coloration “… at its lower 1/4 …” in his specimen. In our specimen from Vietnam and the drawing by Asahina (1997), this widening is hook-shaped and reaches well onto the metepisternum ( Fig. 10 C). However, the specimen from Taiwan shows only a slight widening of the black coloration, which is not hook-shaped ( Fig. 9 B).

We have seen several photos by Sébastien Delonglée, Do Manh Cuong and Tom Kompier of different C. cyanomelas individuals from northern Vietnam, which show a great variation in size and presence of the posterior spots on the dorsal synthorax. The individuals show: i) distinct spots, ii) small spots, or iii) no spots (cf. Fig. 11 D– F). Asahina (1997) only examined one male specimen, thus he could not be aware of the variability of the thoracic markings. Ris (1912) examined 3 males from Taiwan and 8 males from Guangdong province in southern China and does not mention any variation in the thoracic markings; thus the individuals from Vietnam with only one pair of spots and black hook-shaped markings on the mesepimeron and mesepisternum may represent a local variation of C. cyanomelas .

We examined one specimen from Vietnam and one from Taiwan, and most characters, including the genital ligula, strongly agree. We therefore propose the following synonymy:

Coeliccia cyanomelas Ris, 1912

Syn. Coeliccia onoi Asahina, 1997 , syn. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Genital ligulae as reconstructed from micro-CT (orientation bars: dl dorsolateral, l lateral, p posterior, v ventral, vl ventrolateral). A – B Genital ligula of C. scutellum lectotype C – D genital ligula of C. scutellum from Tam Đ ảo, Vietnam E – F genital ligula of C. hainanense lectotype.

FIGURE 8. Genital ligulae as reconstructed from micro-CT (orientation bars: dl dorsolateral, l lateral, p posterior, v ventral, vl ventrolateral). A – B Genital ligula of C. pyriformis holotype, B – C genital ligula of C. cyanomelas.

FIGURE 9. Coeliccia cyanomelas Taihanroku, Taiwan. A head dorsolateral, B prothorax and thorax dorsolateral, C prothorax and thorax dorsal, D anal appendages dorsal, E anal appendages lateral, F anal appendages dorsolateral, G left Fw, H left Hw. Scale bars: 500 Μm.

FIGURE 10. Coeliccia cyanomelas Tam Đ ảo, Vietnam. A head dorsal, B thorax dorsal, C thorax dorsolateral, D anal appendages dorsal, E anal appendages lateral, F anal appendages dorsolateral. Scale bars: 500 Μm.

FIGURE 11. Photos in life of Coeliccia pyriformis and Coeliccia cyanomelas. A Coeliccia pyriformis, male, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. B Coeliccia pyriformis, tandem, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. C Coeliccia pyriformis, male thorax and head dorsal, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. D Coeliccia cyanomelas, male head and thorax dorsolateral, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. E Coeliccia cyanomelas, male with four dorsal synthorax markings, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. F Coeliccia cyanomelas, male with two dorsal synthorax markings, Tam Đ ảo, northern Vietnam. All photos by Sebastién Delonglee.