Neoperla sabang, Sivec & Stark, 2011

Sivec, Ignac & Stark, Bill P., 2011, New Species Of Neoperla Needham And Phanoperla Banks (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From The Philippine Islands, Illiesia 7 (24), pp. 264-279 : 269-271

Neoperla sabang sp. n.

( Figs. 15-23 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, Palawan, Sabang , 8 March 1995 ( PZ) . Paratypes: Palawan: El Nido stream, 19 March 1995, 1♂ ( PZ) . Palawan, Salakot Falls Road, 300 m, 23-24 March 1996, 1♂, 1♀ ( PZ) . Palawan, Mt. Salakot Heli- Pad, 720 m, 19 March 1996, 2♀ ( PZ) . Palawan, San Rafael, Ulanguan, Batac Village , 10 March 1996, 3♂, 1♀ ( PZ), 1♂ ( PMSL) . Specimens deposited in the PZ collection, or the PMSL as indicated.

Adult habitus. General color dark brown patterned with areas of pale pigment. Head dark brown over most of surface except pale M-line and callosities ( Fig. 15 ). Antennae and palpi brown. Ocelli about 1.5 diameters apart. Pronotum dark brown with pale callosities. Distal third of femora and all of tibia dark brown. Wings brown with darker venation.

Male. Forewing length 14 mm. Tergum 7 bearing a truncate, or slightly notched, median lobe, armed on ventroapical margin with thick, sensilla basiconica ( Fig. 16 ). Tergum 8 with a mesal sclerotized band and a sparse patch of sensilla. Tergum 9 bearing a pair of median humps sparsely covered with sensilla and long hair; sensilla extend into area between humps. Hemitergal lobes slender, tapered to apex, and bent slightly near midlength. Penis tube plump, tube weakly sclerotized along dorsal margin and basally on ventral margin; a sparse patch of fine spinules occurs in bulb region of tube ( Fig. 17 ); sac much distended ventrobasally into a wide projection covered on distal surface with minute spines; apex of sac narrowed, turned sharply ventrad, and bearing two pairs of small, circular, spiny lobes along dorsal margin; largest spines occur in broad, subapical band; apex and dorsal area near lobes free of spines.

Female. Forewing length 17 mm. Subgenital plate scarcely developed ( Fig. 19 ), spermatheca short and membranous ( Fig. 18 ).

Egg. Outline barrel shaped, collar absent. Length ca. 360 μm, width ca. 340 μm. Opercular ring thin. Surface ornate with ca. 21, slightly curved striae extending from operculum to near collar end ( Figs. 20-23 ); sulci with row of rectangular follicle cells each containing 4-6 pores. Collar and opercular ends with irregular follicle cell impressions having thick walls and punctate floors. Micropyles not observed.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name, used as a noun in apposition, is based on the type locality.

Diagnosis. This species is a near relative of N. philippina Sivec, 1984 , a member of the N. oculata species group, and shares the small median notch in the process of tergum 7 with that species ( Sivec 1984), at least in most specimens at hand. The penis is also quite similar to that species in general shape, but the basoventral lobe on the sac in N. philippina is smaller and more finger-like, and the subapical band of spines is narrower and composed of larger spines than in N. sabang . In addition, the entire penial sac is covered with spines in N. philippina , whereas in N. sabang a large area along the dorsal surface between the lobes is bare.

Figures

Figs. 15-19. Neoperla sabang. 15. Head and pronotum. 16. Male terminalia. 17. Penis tube and everted sac, lateral aspect.

Figs. 20-23. Neoperla sabang egg. 20. Entire egg. 21. Chorionic detail. 22. Apical aspect, collar end. 23. Apical aspect, anterior end.