Neoperla hubleyi, Stark & Sivec, 2008

Stark, Bill P. & Sivec, Ignac, 2008, New Species And Records Of Neoperla (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From Vietnam, Illiesia 4 (3), pp. 19-54 : 30-31

Neoperla hubleyi sp. n.

( Figs. 29‐33 , 97‐99 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ from Vietnam, Cao Bang, Ba Be National Park , near dorm annex, UV light, 17 May 1995, D. Currie, J. Swann, J. Whiting, ROM 956058 , ( ROM) . Paratypes: Vietnam, Cao Bang, Ba Be National Park , between gates and dorm, UV light, 22 May 1995, D. Currie, J. Swann, M. McGuffin, ROM 956119, 1 ♂ ( ROM) . Vietnam, Nghe An, ca. 25 km SW Con Cuong, Khe Moi Forestry Camp , 18 ° 45’ N, 104 ° 49’ E, 3 June 1995, B. Hubley, J. Swann, ROM 956150, 1 ♂ ( ROM) . Vietnam, Thua Thien‐ Hue, Bach Ma National Park near junction Rhododendron and Five Lakes Trails , 16 ° 11’ N, 107 ° 51’ E, 16 June 2000, B. Hubley, D.C. Darling, ROM 2000531, 1 ♂ pinned ( IEBR), 1 ♀ ( ROM) . Vietnam, Vinh Phu, Tam Dao Hill Station , 3‐31 May 1996, B. Hubley, D.C. Darling, M. Hanson, ROM 961002, 1 ♂ pinned ( ROM). Same site, 11‐13 October 1994, D. Currie, UV light, ROM 946002, 1 ♀ ( ROM) . Vietnam, Vinh Phu, Tam Dao , lower waterfall on stream flowing through town, 11 May 1996, B. Hubley, D.C. Darling, ROM 961030, 1 ♂ pinned ( ROM) .

Adult habitus. Biocellate. Head with a small dark spot, pointed medially, over ocelli. Pronotum pale brown with obscure, slightly darker rugosities; anterior and posterior margins and median suture dark brown ( Fig. 29 ). Wing membrane pale amber, veins darker. Femora yellow but slightly darker dorsoapically.

Male. Forewing length 10.5‐11.5 mm. Tergum 9 process a rounded plateau, concave on posterior margin and sprinkled with small sensilla basiconica over entire process. Process of tergum 8 tongue shaped, erect and armed on anterodorsal margin with small spines. Tergum 9 without sensilla patches ( Fig. 30 ). Hemitergal processes short and slightly curved. Aedeagal tube long, slender, lightly sclerotized on ventral margin and bearing in apical third a slender, bifurcate lobe; arms of lobe about half as long as stalk and armed on tips with a few (ca. 4‐5) small spines; ventral margin of tube distal to lobe covered with rows of fine spicules ( Fig. 31 ). Aedeagal sac about as long as tube and curved strongly ventrad; small area on apex armed with a patch of slightly larger, red‐ brown erect spines but most of sac covered with small flattened scale‐ like spines; dorsal margin unarmed for most of sac length but ventral margin armed for at least half the sac length; a basolateral lobe of scale armature extends nearly to base of sac ( Fig. 31 ).

Putative Female. Forewing length 12‐13 mm. Subgenital plate slightly produced and notched. Vagina elongate‐ oval, lined along lateral margins with sparse patches of pale brown spinules, and lined more densely around base of spermathecal stalk ( Fig.32 ). Spermathecal stalk slender, unlined and supporting a recurved, sausage shaped spermatheca with hooked apex ( Fig. 33 ).

Egg. Barrel shaped. Length ca. 0.33 mm, width ca. 0.18 mm. Collar not distinctly stalked, width ca. 0.1 mm at rim. Rim smooth, primary striae join rim on sides of collar ( Figs. 97‐99 ). Primary striae smooth and widely spaced, ca. 10 visible in lateral aspect; a pair of secondary striae present between each pair of primaries; secondary striae thick near middle of egg but strongly tapered and inconspicuous toward each end. Sulci with three rows of punctations. Lid covered with prominent, thick walled, follicle cell impressions; floors of FCIs punctate.

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The patronym honors Brad Hubley of the Royal Ontario Museum in recognition of his efforts in collecting this material and in making it available to us for our study.

Diagnosis. This species is a member of the N. diehli Sivec species complex and is quite similar to N. han Stark , a species described from Hong Kong ( Stark 1987) and subsequently reported from Guizhou Province ( Yang & Yang 1993b). The two species can be distinguished by comparing details of the aedeagal sac armature. In N. han , the entire sac surface is covered with scale‐ like spines from the tip to near the base, and the largest spines occur basolaterally, whereas in N. hubleyi most of the dorsal sac margin is unarmed and the scale spines are uniform in size throughout most of the patch with only the apical area having larger spines. The female association is based on co‐ occurrence at two sites (Bach Ma National Park and Tam Dao Hill Station) for a pair of somewhat teneral females with ocellar patches similar to those of male specimens.

Figures

Figs. 29‐33. Neoperla hubleyi. 29. Head and pronotum, 30. Male terminalia, 31. Aedeagus, 32. Female terminalia, 33. Vagina and spermatheca.

Figs. 94‐99. Egg micrographs. 94‐96. N. hamata. 94. Egg, 95. Collar, 96. Lid. 97‐99. N. hubleyi. 97. Egg, 98. Collar, 99. Lid.