Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999

Lin, Yu-Hsiu Hugh, Ko, Chiun-Cheng & Tseng, Hui-Yun, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the antlion tribe Myrmeleontini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) of Taiwan, European Journal of Taxonomy 969, pp. 1-61 : 37-41

Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999

Figs 1G , 20–22

Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange in Miller et al., 1999: 67. Type locality: Taiwan (Pingtung).

Myrmeleon persimilis – Stange et al. 2003: 118. — Wang et al. 2018: 107.

Myrmeleon (Myrmeleon) persimilis – Stange 2004: 334. — Lin et al. 2019: 140.

Material examined

Holotype TAIWAN • ♂ (photos examined); Pingtung County, Hengchun Township, Fengchuisha Beach ( Feiha-Tre-Sha Area , Kenting Nat’l Park ); 21°56′55.7″ N, 120°50′11.6″ E; 20 Apr. 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; collected as larva, emerged 28 Jun. 1998; on beach; FSCA 00090997 .

Paratypes TAIWAN – Miaoli County • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Tongxiao Township, Tongxiao Beach ( Tonshou ); 24°29′47.5″ N, 120°40′20.5″ E; 3 May 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; NTM 3623-007 . – New Taipei City • 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); Tamsui District, Shalun Seaside Resort ( Damshuei ); 6 May 1998; Robert A. Miller, Lionel A. Stange and Hsiau-Yue Wang leg.; NTM 3623-005, 3623-006 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); same data as for preceding; TAMU X0405606, X0405458 . – Pingtung County • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (4 larvae reared to adults); same data as for holotype; NTM 3623-001 to 3623-004 .

Additional material

TAIWAN – Kinmen County • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Jinsha Township, Tianpu Reservoir ; 3 Apr. 2021; Bin-Hong Ho and Yun Ho leg.; preserved in alcohol; NTU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Jinhu Township, Xibian Seawater Bathing Pool ; 4 Apr. 2021; Bin-Hong Ho and Yun Ho leg.; preserved in alcohol; NTU . – Miaoli County • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ (3 larvae reared to adults); Tongxiao Township, Tongxiao Beach ; 4 May 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; 3 specs preserved in alcohol; NTU . – New Taipei City • 2 ♀♀ (2 larvae reared to adults); Gongliao District, Fulong seaside park ; 7 Jun. 2019; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; 1 spec. preserved in alcohol; NTU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Tamsui District, Shalun Seaside Resort ; 30 Jan. 2019; Kai-Wei Chan leg.; NTU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); same data as for preceding; 3 Sep. 2019; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; NTU . – Penghu County • 1 ♀ (larva reared to adult); Huxi Township, Aimen Beach ; 16 Jan. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; NTU • 2 ♂♂ (2 larvae reared to adults); Baisha Township, Houliao Beach ; 13 Jan. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; 1 spec. preserved in alcohol; NTU • 1 ♀ (larva reared to adult); Huxi Township, Lintou Park ; 13 Jan. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; preserved in alcohol; NTU • 2 ♂♂ (2 larvae reared to adults); Huxi Township, Lizhengjiao Beach ; 16 Jan. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; preserved in alcohol; NTU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Magong City, Shili Beach; 13 Jan. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; NTU . – Pingtung County • 1 ♂; Hengchun Township, Fengchuisha Beach ; 12 Feb. 2019; Kai-Wei Chan leg.; NTU • 1 ♂ (larva reared to adult); Manzhou Township, Jiupeng Desert ; 4 Feb. 2020; Yu-Hsiu Lin leg.; NTU .

Re-description of the adult

MEASUREMENTS (♂ n =7, ♀ n = 4). Body length: ♂ 20.1–23.7 mm, ♀ 21.5–22.4 mm; forewing: length ♂ 19.2–23.1 mm, ♀ 22.9–24.4 mm; width ♂ 4.8–6.1 mm, ♀ 5.8–6.3 mm; width/length ratio ♂ 0.2451, ♀ 0.2539; hindwing: length ♂ 18.1–21.2 mm, ♀ 21.5–22.9 mm; width ♂ 4.2–4.9 mm, ♀ 4.8–5.4 mm; width/length ratio ♂ 0.2287, ♀ 0.2286.

HEAD ( Fig. 20A–B ). Vertex strongly raised, rounded, black, 4 shiny black spots along anterior margin and 4 shiny black spots along posterior margins, with sparse short black hairs; occiput brown. Frons shiny black, covered with sparse short hyaline hairs; gena whitish-yellow, with an incomplete white line along ocular rim; clypeus whitish-yellow with a pair of dark brown spots, with sparse hyaline hairs. Antenna brown, short, with slightly defined club, covered with short dark hairs; scape dark brown with a ring of white band at base and apex; pedicel dark brown; flagellum comprising approximately 30 flagellomeres. Mouthparts yellow, labrum yellow, with several hyaline hairs; maxillary palps dark brown, whitish-yellow between each palpomere, labial palps dark brown, 3 rd palpomere black, fusiform, tapering to acute apex, with brown round palpimacula on apical ⅓; submentum with long dark hairs.

THORAX ( Fig. 20B ). Pronotum broad, shorter than wide, dark brown, with whitish-yellow markings on anterior-lateral margin, a whitish-yellow medial line and a pair of whitish-yellow spots in middle, close to anterior margin, membrane whitish-yellow, with brown marking in middle (sometimes fully whitish-yellow on anterior half), with hyaline hairs and long dark hairs. Cervical sclerites dark brown. Mesonotum dark brown, with sparse hyaline hairs; mesoscutum dark brown, with a whitish-yellow band on posterior margin. Metanotum dark brown, covered with sparse hyaline hairs; metascutum dark brown, with a whitish-yellow band on posterior margin. Meso- and metapleuron dark brown, moderately covered with long hyaline hairs.

LEGS. Whitish-yellow, short. Coxae dark brown, fore coxae whitish-yellow with dark brown markings, moderately covered with long hyaline hairs. Femora moderately covered with short dark hairs, mixed with sparse long black setae; fore femur whitish-yellow, dark brown on ventral margin and apex; mid femora dark brown, paler at base; hind femora whitish-yellow, with dark brown marking on distal half; femoral sense hair length about ⅓ of femur length on fore and mid legs, absent on hind leg. Tibiae moderately covered with short dark hairs, mixed with sparse long black setae; all tibia pale brown on dorsal suface and dark brown on ventral surface. Tibial spurs reddish-brown, short, slender, almost straight, approximately as long as tarsomere 1. Tarsi dark brown, tarsomere 1 whitish-yellow on dorsal surface, sparsely covered with short dark hairs dorsally, short black setae ventrally; tarsomere 1 shorter than combined length of tarsomeres 2–4; tarsomere 5 shorter than combined length of tarsomeres 1–4. Pretarsal claws reddish-brown, short, simple, curved, shorter than tibial spurs.

WINGS ( Fig. 20C ). Without markings, hyaline. Forewings acute at apex; veins and crossveins mostly pale brown, Sc, RA and CuA finely alternating brown and pale yellow; costal area without interconnected crossveins, distal crossveins often branched; presectoral area with 8–9 crossveins and 0 irregular cells; RP arising slightly beyond CuA fork, with 10–14 crossveins from origin of RP to hypostigmatic cell; CuP supporting 1 cell before fusing with 1A; 3A mostly fused with 2A; hypostigmatic cell long; pterostigma pale white; anterior Banksian line absent, posterior Banksian line slightly distinct. Hindwings slightly shorter and narrower than forewings; acute at apex; presectoral area with 5 crossveins and 0 irregular cells; RP arising beyond MP fork, at origin runs closer to MA, with 9–11 crossveins from origin of RP to hypostigmatic cell; hypostigmatic cell longer than forewing; pterostigma pale white, slightly visible; anterior Banksian line absent, posterior Banksian line slightly distinct; male with large, dark brown pilula axillaris.

ABDOMEN ( Fig. 1G ). Shorter than hindwing, tergites dark brown, sternite dark brown, densely covered with short dark hairs dorsally and laterally, hyaline hairs ventrally.

FEMALE TERMINALIA ( Fig. 21A–B ). Tergite VIII at least 2 times as wide as tergite IX. Tergite IX narrow, rectangular in lateral view. Ectoproct semicircular in lateral view, with long, black fossorial bristles on ventral half. Lateral gonapophyses rounded in lateral view, smaller than ectoproct, with long, black fossorial bristles on posterior side and long, thin, black setae on ventral side. Posterior gonapophyses long, slender, with long, black setae. Anterior gonapophyses slightly lobed, separated, with long, thick, black setae. Pregenital plate distinct, semicircular, presented on posterior margin of sternite VII.

MALE GENITALIA ( Figs 21C–D , 22 ). Ectoproct trapezoid in lateral view, curved toward posterior, dorsal margin shorter than ventral margin, ventral margin slightly curved upward, covered with short pale brown hair, ventral half with long black setae. Sternite IX as long as combined length of tergite IX and ectoproct, tapered in ventral view, with long black setae posteriorly. Gonarcus narrow, arched, crescent-shaped in lateral view. Mediuncus well sclerotized, large, black, rectangular in caudal view. Parameres well sclerotized, large, black, triangular in lateral view, semicircular in caudal view, separated, with short black setae.

Distribution

Taiwan (coastal area, also on the associated islands of Penghu and Kinmen) ( Fig. 31G ).

Biology

From the collecting and emergence date of the examined specimens, the adults appear from June to October. This is a coastal species; the larvae can be found on the open sand dunes on most of the western beaches in Taiwan ( Lin et al. 2021).

Remarks

This is a relatively small species, the overall morphology of the adult resembles M. taiwanensis , M. heppneri and M. punctinervis , and can be recognized by the paler thorax coloring ( Fig. 20B ).

Figures

Fig. 1. Adult habitus of species of Myrmeleontini Latreille, 1802 of Taiwan, lateral view. A. Baliga asakurae (Okamoto, 1910), ♀ (NTU). B. B. brunneipennis (Esben-Petersen, 1913), ♀ (NTU). C. Myrmeleon tenuipennis Rambur, 1842, ♀ (NTU). D. M. littoralis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♀ (NTU). E. M. wangi Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). F. M. heppneri Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). G. M. persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). H. M. punctinervis Banks, 1937, ♀ (NTU). I. M. taiwanensis Miller & Stange, 1999, ♂ (NTU). Scale bars = 10.0 mm.

Fig. 20. Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999 (NTU). A. Head, frontal view. B. Head and thorax, dorsal habitus. C. Wings. Abbreviations: A = anal veins; C = costa; Cu = cubitus; CuA = cubitus anterior; CuP = cubitus posterior; MA = media anterior; MP = media posterior; pB = posterior Banksian line; RA = radius anterior; RP = radius posterior; Sc = subcosta. Scale bars: A–B = 1.0 mm; C = 10.0 mm.

Fig. 21. Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999 (NTU). A. Female terminalia, lateral view. B. Same, ventral view. C. Male terminalia, lateral view. D. Same, ventral view. Abbreviations: ag = anterior gonapophysis; ect = ectoproct; lg = lateral gonapophysis; pg = posterior gonapophysis; pp = pregenital plate; S = sternites; T = tergites. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

Fig. 22. Myrmeleon persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999, male genitalia (NTU). A. Lateral view. B. Caudal view. Abbreviations: gon = gonarcus; med = mediuncus; par = parameres. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 31. Distribution of Myrmeleontini Latreille, 1802 from Taiwan and adjacent islands. A. Baliga asakurae (Okamoto, 1910). B. B. brunneipennis (Esben-Petersen, 1913). C. Myrmeleon tenuipennis Rambur, 1999.D. M. littoralis Miller & Stange, 1999.E. M. wangi Miller & Stange, 1999.F. M. heppneri Miller & Stange, 1999. G. M. persimilis Miller & Stange, 1999. H. M. punctinervis Banks, 1937. I. M. taiwanensis Miller & Stange, 1999.