Plectrocnemia pectinata Zhong, Yang & Morse

Zhong, Hua, Yang, Lian-Fang & Morse, John C., 2012, The genus Plectrocnemia Stephens in China (Trichoptera, Polycentropodidae), Zootaxa 3489, pp. 1-24 : 6

Plectrocnemia pectinata Zhong, Yang & Morse , sp. nov.

( Fig. 4 )

Adult. Length of each male forewing 6.6–6.8 mm (N = 2). Head of specimen in alcohol brown with yellowish antennae, pronotum light brown, meso- and metanota brown, forewings light brown.

Male genitalia. Sternum IX highly sclerotized, ventral half with oval anterior protrusion on each side, posterior margin with small triangular protrusion subapicodorsally in lateral view ( Fig. 4 B); in ventral view ( Fig. 4 A), anterior margin with broad semicircular excision, posterior margin broadly concave; tergum IX translucent, pentagonal, slightly longer than broad in dorsal view ( Fig. 4 C). Tergum X semi-membranous, with small, V-shaped apicomesal incision. Intermediate appendages not well developed, represented as thickenings of ventrolateral margins of tergum X, each with lightly sclerotized rectangular plate at base in dorsal view ( Fig. 4 C). Preanal appendages about 1.5 times as long as wide in lateral view ( Fig. 4 B), with rounded apices, each with mesoventral process slender, recurved and elevated, with apical portion pectinate and directed downward. Inferior appendages approximately 1.5 times as long as wide, each with protruding oval apex and with a short, blunt projection on its dorsal edge in lateral view ( Fig. 4 B); in ventral view ( Fig. 4 A), each with digitate process slender, with its toothed apex curved downward, ventromesal process with apex more or less truncate, densely toothed, and positioned at basal half of appendage; in caudal view, mesal plate with 2 apical setae ( Fig. 4 F). Phallus with phallobase tubular; 1 pair of long paramere spines highly sclerotized, with apices curved ventrad; pair of phallic sclerites long and slender, each acute at anterior and posterior ends, close to each other in their distal 2/3rds in ventral view ( Fig. 4 E); subphallic sclerite compressed, nail-like in caudal view ( Fig. 4 G).

The male of this new species is very similar to that of P. maoerensis sp. nov. from Guang-xi. It differs from that of P. maoerensis in the following characters: 1) tergum X is not broader than the preanal appendages in lateral view (broader than preanal appendages in P. maoerensis ); 2) the mesoventral process of each preanal appendage has its distal portion pectinate, (with merely crinkles in P. maoerensis ); 3) the inferior appendages are mitten-like in lateral view, each with its protruding, oval apex narrower than its base; in ventral view, the ventromesal processes have truncate apices densely toothed and positioned at the basal half of the appendages (inferior appendages short, rectangular, with distal margin broader than its base in lateral view and with ventromesal processes with toothed apices rounded, and extending to the distal 1/3rd of the appendage in ventral view in P. maoerensis ); 4) the subphallic sclerites are compressed and nail-like in caudal view, (depressed, with apex 3-branched in P. maoerensis ).

Holotype male: Guang-xi Province: Hua-jiang County, Mt. Jiu-wan-da Provincial Nature Reserve, an unnamed tributary of Yang-mei-au Stream, 50 m upstream of County Road 5309 marker 123.2 km, N25.20°, E108.66°, alt. 1148 m, 15 June 2004, Coll. Yang L-f.

Etymology. Latin adjective, “pectinate,” with reference to the pectinate distal ends of the mesoventral processes of the preanal appendages.

Distribution. China (Guang-xi).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Plectrocnemia pectinata sp. nov., male genitalia. A, ventral view; B, left lateral view; C, dorsal view; D, phallus, left lateral view; E, phallus, ventral view; F, right inferior appendage, caudal view; G, subphallic sclerite, caudal view. ap. s. = apical setae of mesal plate; dig. pro. = digitate process of a mesal plate; inf. app. = inferior appendage; int. app. = intermediate appendage; m. v. pro. = mesoventral process of a preanal appendage; para. = paramere; ph. b. = phallobase; ph. c. = phallicata; ph. scl. = phallic sclerite; pre. app. = preanal appendage; s. IX = sternum IX; sph. s. = subphallic sclerite; t. IX = tergum IX; t. X = tergum X; v. pro. = ventromesal process of an inferior appendage.