Purenleon rafaeli Machado, 2020

Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Tavares, Leon Gustavo de Miranda, 2020, Notes on the Brazilian species of Purenleon Stange (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), with description of two new species, Insect Systematics & Evolution 51 (1), pp. 62-80 : 73-77

Purenleon rafaeli Machado sp. n.

ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/ E0680468-AFEC-45F2-977F-757EEF14E99A

Diagnosis. Pronotum mostly dark brown and set with few elongate white setae; mid tibia greatly swollen, much broader than foretibia; mid tibia yellow with dark brown marks; female sternite VII with posterolateral lobes; female pregenital plate large and ventrally extended; male parameres dorsally enlarged (forming a dome) and with apex not sclerotized.

Description

Lengths: forewing: 23.2–24.5 mm; hind wing: 23.7–25.1 mm.

Head ( Fig. 9a ): Labrum pale yellow, with a line of elongate light brown setae. Clypeus pale yellow, set with some long white setae. Frons yellow with large dark brown areas surrounding antennal base; set with few short white setae. Gena pale yellow. Vertex raised; anteriorly pale yellow with remaining areas brown, which have some rounded dark brown marks near posterior margin; set with short black setae. Ocular rim setae absent. Antennae clavate; more than three times longer than pronotum length; distance between antennae about the same size of scape width; flagellomeres about as long as wide, except by the ones at the apex, wider than long; all segments with basal half dark brown and apical half pale yellow, except by the flagellomeres at the apex where the basal ones are mostly yellow and apical ones are entirely dark brown; all segments set with short black setae. Mandible light brown with apex dark. Palpi, maxillary and labial pale yellow, except by the distal labial palpomere dark brown; apical labial palpomere fusiform, palpimacula oval-shaped, located medially.

Thorax ( Fig. 9b ): Pronotum about as long as wide; posterior margin slightly wider than anterior; subapical furrow present; mostly dark brown, with large pale yellow marks, particularly on the anterior half; set with long black setae. Mesonotum mostly dark brown, except by some pale yellow areas near sutures, and scutum; prescutum with some long black setae. Metanotum similar to mesonotum. Pterothoracic pleura mostly dark brown with pale yellow marks on each segment; set with long white setae.

Wings ( Fig. 9c ): Narrow with acute apex. Banksian lines absent in both wings. Veins intercalating dark brown and pale areas; beset with short black setae. Forewing membrane mostly hyaline with few dark brown marks: one small mark around the crossveins near the level of the prefork area apex; small dark marks surrounding the apical crossveins, particularly at rhegmal area; cubital fork basal to RS origin; seven presectoral crossveins (apical one forked in some specimens); subcostal veinlets mostly simple with a few irregularly forked; prefork area larger than posterior area. Hind wing membrane hyaline with few small marks surrounding the apical crossveins; medial fork located between origins of Rs and MA; subcostal veinlets simple; one presectoral crossvein (generally with a small medial knob).

Legs ( Fig. 9d ): All pairs; tibia and femur about the same size and slightly longer than tarsi, (hind leg with tibia and femur much longer than tarsi); tibial spurs long, reaching T4 apex in the fore and mid leg and T3 apex in the hind leg; tarsomeres length: T1> T2, T2 = T3 = T4, T5 = T1-T4; claws about as long as T5 half and not capable of closing. Foreleg: sense hair longer than femur; segments set with short white setae and some long white setae; femur swollen; tibia slightly swollen with an antennal cleaning setae in most of ventral surface; all segments mostly pale yellow, except femur dorsal surface which is dark brown (except the base), tibia and tarsomeres apex dark brown, and tibia with rounded dark brown marks at the base of the long white setae. Mid leg similar to foreleg, except for dorsal surface of femur, pale yellow with apex dark brown, and tibia greatly swollen. Hind leg similar to mid leg except by sense hair absent, tibia not swollen and almost without rounded dark marks.

Abdomen: Tergites dark brown with a pale rounded yellow mark, mainly on the anterior base. Sternites pale yellow with few dark brown marks. Tergites set with short black setae, and sternites set with short white setae (except the last sternite set with black setae).

Male Terminalia ( Fig. 10 a–d): Ectoproct rounded in lateral view; set with elongate black setae. Sternite IX with posterior margin rounded, in ventral view; set with long black setae particularly on the posterior border. Gonarcus arched in ventral view. Mediuncus short with apical margin straight. Paramere broad, enlarged, and dorsally fused forming a dome; in lateral view with dorsal margin rounded and wider than gonarcus; in ventral view with apex rounded and broad but base thin and curving to form the concave dome.

Female Terminalia ( Fig. 10 e–h): Ectoproct large, rounded, and with a short postventral lobe, set with thin elongate setae being the ones in the postventral lobe longer. Lateral gonapophyses smaller than ectoproct (hidden behind the ectoproct in lateral view), in ventral view elongated with apex broad and rounded and beset with long stout setae. Sternite VII with posterior corners forming an elongated thin lobe; covered with black setae. Pregenital plate large, sub-triangular in ventral view; in lateral view with a large ventral expansion, which is concave and with ventral margin rounded in posterior view. Posterior gonapophyses elongate, digitiform, curving inwards medially, beset with black setae longer than the gonapophyses. Anterior gonapophyses absent. Ventral membrane set with some short black setae, gonapophyseal plates long and curved.

Etymology. The species is named after the great entomologist and mentor Dr. José Albertino Rafael, who collected most of the type series and initially “introduced” the neuropterans for the first author.

Distribution. This species is only known from the Brazilian Amazon region, with records for three states, Amazonas, Pará and Roraima ( Fig. 11 ).

Type series. Holotype: female (present designation): INPA: BRAZIL: AMAZO- NAS Manaus , FUA [old name for the UFAM campus] [3 ⁰05’59”S– 59 ⁰58’30”W], 2.ix.1978, Jose A. Rafael, malaise . Holotype in good condition, but right antennae missing and apex of wings damaged, terminalia dissected and stored in a micro vial with glycerin (pinned under the specimen).

Paratype (5♂, 6♀, 1?): BRAZIL: AMAZONAS: Manaus, Campus UFAM, 20.ix.1989, N.O. Aguiar (1♀ – UFAM) ; idem – 19.viii.1989, Herbert Lima (1♀ – UFAM) ; idem – ICB1, 3 ⁰05’59”S – 59 ⁰58’30”W, 18.ix.2015, Coleta manual, F.S.P. Godoi (2♂ – CEMT) ; Manaus, Reserva Ducke, 2 ⁰55’49”S – 59 ⁰58’31”W, 25.iii.2011, Coleta manual, W.L. Porto (1♂ – UFAM); Manaus, FUA, 26.viii.1978, Jose A. Rafael, malaise (1♀ – CEMT, 1? – INPA); idem – 2.ix.1978, (1♂, 1♀ – INPA) ; PARÁ: Monte Dourado, 31.x.1979, I. S. Gorayeb (1♂ – MPEG) ; Óbidos, Colônia São Tomé, 01 ⁰50’46”S – 55 ⁰02’23”W, 1–11.ix.2001, rede entomológica, J.A. Rafael & J.F. Vidal (1♀ – INPA); RORAIMA: Alto Alegre, ESEC Maracá (base), 3 ⁰21’42”N – 61 ⁰26’08”W, 21–24.ii.2017, lençol iluminado, A. Agudelo, J.A. Rafael, D. Mendes, R. Aquino (1♀ – INPA) .

Remarks. Purenleon rafaeli sp. n. is another species fitting in the tibialis species group. It has all the major characters of the group (see remarks under P. limeirai ), including the female sternite VII with small lobes on the posterior margin. Within the species group, P. rafaeli seems to be closely related to P. fernandezi based on their general dark body color pattern. Despite the similarities between these two species they can be easily distinguished, since P. rafaeli presents very unique characteristics within the genus, such as the male parameres (dorsally enlarged and fused, forming a dome) and the female pregenital plate (large with a ventral expansion).

Figures

Fig. 9. Purenleon rafaeli sp. n.: a) head, anterior view; b) thorax, dorsal view; c) wings; d) mid tibia. Scale bar = 1mm.

Fig. 10. Purenleon rafaeli sp. n.: a) male terminalia, lateral view; b) male genitalia, lateral view; c) male genitalia, posteroventral view; d) male genitalia, posterior view; e) female terminalia, lateral view; f) female pregenital plate, lateral view; g) female pregenital plate, posterior view; h) female terminalia, posterior view. E = ectoproct; G = gonarcus; LG = lateral gonapophyses; M = mediuncus; P = paramere; PG = posterior gonapophyses; PP = pregenital plate; S = sternite; T = tergite. Scale bar = 0.5mm.

Fig.11. Distribution map of the species of Purenleon Stange recorded to Brazil. Map shows the records presented here and previously reported.