Cryptoperla meyi, Stark & Sivec, 2007

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2007, New Species And Records Of Asian Peltoperlidae (Insecta: Plecoptera), Illiesia 3 (12), pp. 104-126 : 112-114

Cryptoperla meyi sp. nov.

( Figs. 29-30 , 33-35 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ from Vietnam, Sa Pa , Fan Si Pang Mts., 25-30 March 1995, W. Mey ( MNB) . Paratypes all from Vietnam: Mt. Fan Si Pan , 22 ° 17’ N, 103 ° 45’ E, 1-5 March, 1 ♀ ( MNB). Sa Pa, Okui-ho 1100 m, 24-25 March 1995, W. Mey, 1 ♀ ( MNB) .

Adult habitus. Biocellate. General body color yellowbrown. Head pale except for darker lappets. Pronotum with pale median band and darker midlateral band extending almost to margin; small pale rugosities scattered in dark band ( Fig. 29 ). Wings transparent, veins pale amber except costa, subcosta and radius which are pale in apical half. Femora pale except at tip; tibiae brown but slightly darker in basal third.

Male. Unknown.

Female. Forewing length 16-17 mm. Subgenital plate large, parabolic, covering most of sternum 9 ( Fig.30 ). Sternum 9 with prominent lateral bars; median field essentially hairless. Base of vagina visible through subgenital plate due to microtrichia patches.

Egg. Outline thimble shaped with low button collar surrounded by wide smooth zone ( Figs. 33-35 ). Body of egg covered with prominent 4-6 sided FCIs; ca. 7 longitudinal and 10 horizontal rows of FCIs in lateral aspect. FCI floors form conical pits, rims smooth and narrow ( Fig. 35 ). Micropyles located near collar on FCI rims.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The patronym honors W. Mey, collector of the holotype.

Diagnosis. The subgenital plate for this species is generally similar to that of several other species, but C. meyi is larger than known Cryptoperla except C. kumari ( Stark 1989) and two Chinese species, C. obtusa ( Wu 1973) and C. sinensis ( Wu & Claassen 1934) . Wu (1973) reports male C. obtusa to have a body length of 18 mm and Wu & Claassen (1934) list the female body length for C. sinensis to be 17 mm. If these sizes are accurate, both these species should have longer wing lengths than C. meyi . The female for the former species is unknown, but the redescription of the latter

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species ( Stark 1989) indicates its subgenital plate is shorter and more broadly rounded than that of C. meyi . The newspecies differs from C. kumari females in having a slightly less parabolic subgenital plate, more prominent lateral bars, and microtrichial bands in the vaginal base. In addition, the pale pronotal band and almost entirely pale head are distinctive for C. meyi . Unfortunately the eggs are not known for C. obtusa , C. kumari , or C. sinensis .

Figures

Figs. 29-32. Cryptoperla structures. 29-30. C. meyi. 29. Head and pronotum, 30. Female terminalia. 31-32 C. sp. Ch A. 31. Head and pronotum, 32. Female terminalia.

Figs. 33-38. Cryptoperla micrographs of eggs. 33-35. C. meyi. 36-38. C. sp. Ch A.