Mortoniella (Mortoniella) tranquilla Martynov, 1912

Blahnik, Roger J. & Holzenthal, Ralph W., 2017, Revision of the northern South American species of Mortoniella Ulmer 1906 (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae: Protoptilinae) *, Insecta Mundi 2017 (602), pp. 1-251 : 94

Mortoniella (Mortoniella) tranquilla Martynov, 1912

Mortoniella tranquilla Martynov, 1912: 38 ; Flint 1963: 465 [unidentifiable]; Sykora 1999: 385 [unknown group]; Blahnik and Holzenthal 2008: 70 [member of bilineata group].

No attempt was made to borrow this species because of its reported condition and the unlikelihood of being able to associate it. This species was based on a single “defective” female specimen collected from Callanga, Peru. It was described as having the same neuration as M. bilineata , except for a clearly marked transverse vein in the hind wing connecting the base of the median cell with the beginning of the first apical sector. The latter character, however, seems to be generally true for species in the bilineata group and also species listed here as “unplaced species” ( Fig. 97B, 99B ). The color of the specimen was also described in some detail. The forewing is described as being fuscous, iridescent, without wing bars, but with an indistinct yellowish marking at the arculus and with an elongate, pale-greyish fringe at the apex; the hind wings were described as being paler, also with a fringe of pale-greyish setae. The color attributes more nearly describe species of the leroda group, which typically have a wing bar or incomplete wing bar at the anastamosis with setae that are yellowish or whitish-yellow, rather than distinctly white. If wing bars are present in the bilineata group, they are usually distinctly white. The same is true for most of the species in the subgenus Mortoniella listed as “unplaced species” and also generally characterizes species of the subgenus Nanotrichia . However, the color description does more or less match M. argentinica , and it is conceivable that it could correspond to some females in the bilineata group, very few of which were examined in the current study. Without confirmation of the venational characters, it is difficult to state exactly where this species has its closest affinity. If the description of the type specimen as being “defective” refers to the condition of the genitalia, then the exact identity of this species may remain in doubt.

Figures

Figures 97-99. Mortoniella (M.) species, wings. 97—Mortoniella roldani Flint [bilineata group, bilineata subgroup]. A—forewing; B—hind wing. 98—Mortoniella tusci, n. sp. [bilineata group, flinti subgroup]. A—forewing; B—hind wing. 99—Mortoniella cornuta n. sp. [unplaced to species group]. A—forewing; B—hind wing.