Amphinemura rai Ham & Lee, 1999

Zwick, Peter, 2010, New Species And New Records Of Plecoptera From Korea And The Russian Far East, Illiesia 6 (9), pp. 75-97 : 79-81

Amphinemura rai Ham & Lee, 1999

(Figs. 9-14)

Amphinemura rai Ham & Lee, 1999:119 . Holotype ♂, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Donghaksa, Mt. Keryong ( Chonnam National University , Kwangju).

Material examined. REPUBLIC OF KOREA: Jirisan , Hamyang-gun , Macheon-Myeon, Samjeon-li, Alt. 700 m, 35°20.93'N 127°38.50'E, 11.IV.-8.V. 2004 , Malaise trap on small stream, 4♂; same locality except 400 m , 6.-27. VI. 2004, 1♀. Chungbuk, Sangchon-Myeon,

Dungeon-li near Doma Pass, Alt. 500 m, 2.-26. VI. 2006, Malaise trap in forest on small stream, 38♂, 4♀;same locality except 750 m, 2.-26. V. 2006, 2 Malaise traps in forest on small stream, 9♂, 7♀. Cloudy Donghaksa Valley, Kyerongsan Mtn, 11. V. 2000, 2♂, leg. et det. S.A. Ham.

Adult habitus. General appearance and structure resemble A. denstigris , the pronotal surface is also rough. Male. Generally similar to A. denstigris . S9 is a slender subgenital plate with a narrow, apically widened, ventrally soft, whitish ventral lobe (Fig. 9). The narrow tip of the plate curves up. The cerci are short, almost globular, membraneous and hairless on the medial face.

The inner paraproct lobe is conical, more strongly sclerotized and blade-like along its medial edge which is largely concealed beneath the tip of the subgenital plate. The middle lobe is supported by a narrow sclerite strip extending first backward and then forward and up. Along its upper and rear face the apex of the lobe has a dense fringe of black bristles (Fig. 10). The outer paraproct lobe forms an acutely pointed sclerite whose tip lies across the loop of the sclerite strip of the middle lobe.

The epiproct (Figs. 11-13) is distinguished by a wide, flat sclerotized lateral flange in the anterior half. At the tip, the flange is connected to the base of a blackish sinuous appendage with prickly surface. The pointed tip of the appendage is free from the main body of epiproct but lies close to it. A little apical tube concealed between the lateral lobes of the epiproct is best seen in slide mounts.

Female. The few females taken together with the males agree with figure 1E of Ham & Lee (1999). The lobes of the subgenital plate are caudally sinuous, the outer part a little longer than the inner. The inner genital sclerites (Fig. 14) are attached to the medial margin of the largely concealed paragenital plates and consist of a series of sclerotized areas separated by folds1. Together, the plates form an arch supporting anteriorly a transverse little shield with two short caudal fingers. A sclerotized central tube leads to the primary genital organs.

Diagnosis. An obvious relative of A. steinmanni and A. denstigris with similar anterolateral appendages to the lower face of epiproct. However, in the related species the appendages diverge strongly from the body of the epiproct while in A. rai they lie close to it. The paraprocts of the three related species differ also strikingly. The inner genital sclerites of female A. denstigris agree in the funnel-shaped structure with central tube and two caudal fingers. However, the sclerites lining the copulatory pouch differ greatly, which was to be expected in view of the different shapes of epiprocts.

Notes. The new material resembled illustrations in the original description. However, these do not show the ventrolateral appendages and the apical tube of the epiproct. Apparently depending on activity and condition of specimens at the moment of preservation the dark lateral flanges of the epiproct may diverge a little (like in the present figures), or be parallel to each other. Width of the epiproct differs accordingly, the little apical tube being more or less exposed or concealed. There may also be some individual variation in this common species (Dr. Ham in a letter). The initially tentative identifications was confirmed by comparison with two authentic specimens donated by Dr. Ham.