Umma gumma Dijkstra, Mézière & Kipping, 2015

Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B., Kipping, Jens & Mézière, Nicolas, 2015, Sixty new dragonfly and damselfly species from Africa (Odonata), Odonatologica 44 (4), pp. 447-678 : 457-460

Umma gumma Dijkstra, Mézière & Kipping sp. nov. – Robust Sparklewing

(Type Photo 1 , Photos 1–2 , Fig. 1 )

Taxonomy

Pinhey (1969) remarked that the variability of U. longistigma (Selys, 1869) might conceal unnamed taxa. Vick (1999) noted that two forms with different paraprocts occur together in Cameroon, the typical one having more slender paraprocts, as confirmed by the holotype of U. longistigma from that nation in ISNB ( Fig. 1 ). Both forms overlap widely across central Africa, are easily separated by other characters as well, and differ genetically where they co-occur in Gabon, thus representing good species.

Material studied

Holotype ♂. RMNH.INS.554425 , Gabon, Haut-Ogooué Province, Alanga- Aboumi road, Moyol, gravelly and sandy forest river (2–3 m wide, 10–50 cm deep) , 424 m a.s.l. (0.8403 ° S 13.9385 ° E), 28 -ix- 2012, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH .

Further material. CAMEROON (South Province): 1 ♂, 26 km E of Campo, Campo-Ma’an National Park (buffer zone), Bitandé River 1 km E of Nkoélon, rocky rainforest river and adjacent roadsides , 70–100 m a.s.l. (2.3940 ° N 10.0540 ° E), 16 -vi- 2008, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, J. Kipping & K. Schütte, RMNH . CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE (Region de Koulilou): 1 ♂, Conkouati National Park , forest, 50 m a.s.l. (3.7951 ° S 11.3859 ° E), 25–26 -xi- - 2010, leg. P.H. Lambret, RMNH . CONGO-KINSHASA (Province Orientale): 1 ♂, Lilanda and Baombo streams at and upstream of Lilanda and Yafake villages , sandy clear and blackwater streams and river, 390–450 m a.s.l. (0.83 ° N 24.34 ° E), 04-v- 2010, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . 1 ♂, 20 km NW of Lokutu, between Lukomete and Lunua River , forest streams and clearings, 375–400 m a.s.l. (1.275 ° N 23.425 ° E), 01–06-xi- 2004, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . 1 ♂, 20 km NW of Lokutu, large shallow, sandy, clear stream (3–5 m wide) in disturbed forest, 410 m a.s.l. (1.0866 ° N 23.5368 ° E), 01- xi- 2004, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . 3 ♂, Ubundu Road, Yoko Forest, Mokonoka Stream , rock-bottomed (and some sand, gravel, leaflitter) stream and small tributaries in rainforest, 413 m a.s.l. (0.2940 ° N 25.2888 ° E), 08- vi- 2010, leg. K.- D.B. Dijkstra, RMNH . GABON (Estuaire Province): 1 ♂ ( RMNH.INS.508732 ), Kougouleu-Medouneu road, Monts de Cristal, Assegone-Essala , mountain stream with rapids and small falls (2–4 m wide, 50 cm deep), 316 m a.s.l. (0.5596 ° S 10.2362 ° E), 28 -xii- 2012, leg N. Mézière, RMNH . GABON (Haut-Ogooué Province): 1 ♂, Ndjima , 618 m a.s.l. (1.6643 ° S 13.0958 ° E), 21 -ii- 2009, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH . 1 ♂, Plateau d’Okouma, road to Vuku, Mounana, gravel-bottomed stream (1–2 m wide) in grassland, 507 m a.s.l. (1.3998 ° S 13.1920 ° E), 18 -ii- 2009, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH . 1 ♂ ( RMNH.INS.506164 ), righthand road before “Africa No 1 ” radio station in the direction of Franceville, Moyabi , sandy forest river (4 m wide,> 50 cm deep) bordered by ponds, 483 m a.s.l. (0.6476 ° S 13.6800° E), 27 -iii- 2012, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH . 1 ♂ ( RMNH.INS.554468 ), same locality, small gravelly and sandy forest stream bordered by swamp and springs, 474 m a.s.l. (1.6877 °S 13.3113 °E), 04-xi- 2012, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH . 8 ♂, Moyabi, concession Rougier, 17 km SSE of Moanda , large sandy stream in dense forest ( Photo 2 ), 398 m a.s.l. (1.7065 °S 13.2558 °E), 24 -ix- 2013, leg. J. Kipping, CJKL . 1 ♂, same locality, same date, leg. A. Günther, CAGF . 1 ♂, same locality, 17 -ix-2013 , 1♂ same locality, 01-x- 2013, leg. J. Kipping, CJKL .

Genetics

Four unique haplotypes (n= 4) nearest to but distinct from eleven of true U.longistigma (n = 14).

Male morphological diagnosis

Similar to sympatric sister-species U. longistigma by the combination of (a) a uniformly green to blue metallic head, thorax and abdomen, but dark brown to black legs and poststernum; (b) the largely pale rather than dark mandibular bases; (c) the sparse whitish hairs on the poststernum, rather than a dense patch of long dark hairs; (d) 6–10 cross-veins in the Fw quadrilateral cell; (e)the large Pt with an acute proximal corner, 2.7 –3.2 mm; (f) the absence of a clump of thick bristles near the tips of the cerci; and (g)paraprocts that are almost as long as the cerci ( Fig. 1 ). However, is (1)larger with Hw 31.5 – 35.0 mm (mean 33.6; n = 15) rather than 30.0–33.0 mm (31.9; n = 20), with notably more robust build; (2) has a largely pale anterior face to each basal antennal segment, which is entirely dark in most U. longistigma specimens, although about a third have indistinct or partial markings; (3)no expansion on the bend of the penis’s lateral lobes, but their tips are more widened instead; (4)wide-based cerci that do not expand notably distally and end in unmodified rounded or squarish tips, while in U. longistigma the internal flanges widen notably towards the tips, which bear a transverse ridge and hollow, with often a subapical notch or tooth where the flange and ridge meet; and (5) paraprocts that are broad throughout with square-cut tips bearing an inward-directed tooth, rather than slender and tapering to rounded hooked tips ( Fig. 1 ).

Etymology

Name refers to the classic 1969 Pink Floyd album »Ummagumma« (noun in apposition). Range and ecology

Three Umma Kirby, 1890 species overlap widely in central Africa’s rainforests: U. mesostigma (Selys, 1879) – including the probably synonymous U.saphirina Förster, 1916 – is found closest to the source on often gravelly sections, while U. longistigma and U. gumma appear to co-occur on larger and often sandy streams ( Photo 2 ). The new species has been recorded up to 620 m a.s.l. and favours less shady sections, occurs at lower densities, and comes down to the water only with brighter sunshine.

Figures

Photo 1. Umma gumma, male; Moyabi, Gabon. Photo: JK (24 - ix- 2013)

Photo 2. Sandy forest stream near Moyabi, Gabon. Habitat of Umma gumma, Paragomphus dispar and Trithemis legrandi. Photo: JK (24 - ix- 2013)

Figure 1. Male cerci in dorsal view (left) and paraprocts in ventral view with dotted outline of cerci (right) of Umma gumma sp. nov. and U. longistigma.