Leuctra golija, Murányi & Kovács, 2024

Murányi, Dávid & Kovács, Tibor, 2024, Four new species of Leuctra Stephens, 1836 from the Balkans (Plecoptera, Leuctridae), ZooKeys 1218, pp. 49-79 : 49-79

Leuctra golija sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 5 , 6 , 7 B, F

Type material.

Holotype male: Serbia: • Moravica district, Ivanjica municipality, Golija Mts, Dajići , Moravica Stream at Milošica , 1505 m, 43.3384°N, 20.2507°E, 6.v.2023 (field number: loc. 16), leg. L. P. Kolcsár, T. Kovács, D. Murányi ( MM: 2023-51 , PLETYP-32 ) . Paratypes: • same locality and date: 1 ♂ 1 ♀ ( BYU) • 1 ♂ 1 ♀ ( CGV) • 14 ♂ 6 ♀ ( EKCU: PLP 5721 ) • 10 ♂ 3 ♀ ( MM: 2023-51 , PLETYP-33 ) • 1 ♂ 1 ♀ ( SMNS) • same locality, 26.vi.2018 (loc. 1), leg. P. Juhász, T. Kovács, D. Murányi: 1 ♀ ( HNHM: PLP 5003 ) • 1 ♂ ( MM: 2018-43 , PLETYP-34 ) • Raška district, Novi Pazar municipality, Golija Mts, Radaljica , spring brooks in forest edge, 1575 m, 43.2743°N, 20.3467°E, 6.v.2023 (loc. 17), leg. L. P. Kolcsár, T. Kovács, D. Murányi: 1 ♂ ( EKCU: PLP 5727 ) • 2 ♂ 1 ♀ ( MM: 2023-52 , PLETYP-35 ) .

Diagnosis.

Macropterous in both sexes. Male tergite VII mostly membranous, with bicoloured antecosta; tergite VIII with converging pair of slender, pale brown processes, medial membranous area rounded between the processes, triangular between the processes and the lateral sclerotised portions; tergite IX with small posteromedial sclerite, divided into leaf-like portions; tergite X posterior margin with wide and deep notch; epiproct sclerotised only at its sides, stalk nearly as long as the rounded apex; sternite IX bears a vesicle 1 / 2 as long as segment length; specillum slightly longer than paraproct, tip of paraproct acute, tip of specillum blunt. Female subgenital plate large and bicoloured, lobes large, triangular, and not converging, slightly raised in lateral view and the notch between them is triangular; spermathecal sclerite ring-shaped, with large and converging posterior teeth.

Description.

Medium sized, slender species, both sexes macropterous. Forewing length: holotype 5.6 mm, male paratypes 5.4–6.0 mm, female paratypes 6.6–7.0 mm; body length: holotype 5.4 mm, male paratypes 5.2–6.4 mm, female paratypes 5.5–7.2 mm. Setation generally short and dense. General colour brown to dark brown. Head and antennae dark brown, palpi brown. Pronotum brown to dark brown, as wide as long or slightly wider, having rounded corners, rugosities distinct. Legs brown to dark brown. Wings brownish but hyaline, venation brown.

Male abdomen (Figs 5 A – D , 7 B ): Tergite I membranous medially, with two medial spots; terga II and III poorly sclerotised anteriorly. Transverse row of four pigmented spots distinct on terga II – VII. Terga II – III with widely divided antecosta, terga IV – VII with entire antecosta, terga IV – VI full sclerotised. Tergite VII mostly membranous, sclerotised only laterally and in the widened antecosta that is distinctly bicoloured: dark brown laterally and pale brown medially. Tergite VIII: antecosta medially divided nearly in the 1 / 2 width of the segment; paired processes originated from the end of antecosta and reaches the posterior end of the segment, pale brown coloured, converging posteriorly, very slender, and only slightly widened apically, raised in lateral view; the medial membranous area well limited, rounded between the processes and with two sclerotised spots, triangular between the processes and the lateral sclerotised portion of the segment. Tergite IX mostly membranous, antecosta interrupted in the medial 1 / 2 of its length; posteromedial sclerite small, divided into leaf-like portions. Anterior margin of tergite X bilobed anteriorly; posterior margin with deep and wide notch, as wide as 1 / 2 tergite width. Epiproct large, sclerotised only at its sides, stalk nearly as long as the rounded apex. Cercus simple, covered with long setae. Sterna II – VIII simple. Sternite IX bears a long, tongue-shaped vesicle 1 / 2 as long as segment length; posterolateral portions of the sternum pale coloured and weakly sclerotised, connected to pale area around the base of vesicle. Paraproct with moderately wide base, narrowing after basal 1 / 3, apex gently curved in lateral view and tapering towards an acute tip. Base of paraproct connected to a subrectangular lateral expansion, having a small inner apical tip. Specillum longer than the paraproct, gently curved in lateral view and ending in a blunt tip.

Female abdomen (Figs 5 E, F , 7 F ): Terga I – VIII with transverse row of four pigmented spots clearly visible; terga I – VIII mostly membranous but with lateral sclerites; small medial sclerite is present on terga VII – VIII, sometimes also on tergite II; tergite IX mostly, tergite X fully sclerotised. Sterna I – VII simple, sterna II – VII with one subrectangular median sclerite and two small anterior sclerites that are fused with median sclerite only on sternite VII. Subgenital plate of sternite VIII large, setation not distinctive; not fused with lateral sclerites but touching with, a small sclerotised portion is visible on the integument anterior to the plate, as well a wider, pale sclerite on the posterior edge of segment. The subgenital plate with two large and well-defined lobes, the plate is distinctly bicoloured: lateral sides and lobes dark brown, while the rest of the plate pale brown. The lobes are triangular, not swollen, slightly raised in lateral view, not converging in ventral view and overhang the segment end, the notch between them has wavy sides but the proximal part is triangular. The central plate is smooth, only very slightly and evenly bulging in lateral view. Sternite IX without anterior indentation but the anterior 1 / 3 is membranous. Paraproct, cercus and epiproct simple. Spermathecal sclerite thin, ring-shaped, with small anterior teeth and converging, longer posterior teeth.

Affinities.

The new species is a member of the narrowly defined hippopus group ( hippopus subgroup, sensu, e. g., Ravizza 2002 b), and morphologically closest to the West Balkan endemic L. hippopoides and the East Balkan endemic L. pseudohippopus Raušer, 1965 . The male can be distinguished from both on the basis of a nearly fully membranous tergite VII, convergent pair of processes of tergite VIII that delimit the rounded median membranous area, the membranous area triangular lateral to the processes, the small posteromedial sclerite of tergite IX divided into leaf-like portions, and the epiproct sclerotised only at its sides, but with long stalk. Both L. hippopoides and L. pseudohippopus have a bell-shaped membranous area on tergite VII, the pair of processes not converging on tergite VIII and delimiting a square median membranous area, while the membranous area is rounded laterad to the processes, their epiproct more heavily sclerotised and with a short stalk; the posteromedial sclerite of tergite IX is divided into triangular portions in L. pseudohippopus , while the undivided sclerite is large and trapezoidal in L. hippopoides . The island endemic L. pavesii Vinçon, 2015 from Cephalonia, Greece, resembling L. hippopoides but differs by having a straight specillum in lateral view, contrary to the gentle curve for males of all other Balkan species of the species group. The widespread L. hippopus Kempny, 1899 , co-occurring with the new species, is morphologically less related, and the male can easily be distinguished by its mostly sclerotised tergite VII, robust paired processes of tergite VIII, large and complex posteromedial sclerite of tergite IX, and heavily sclerotised epiproct with a short stalk. The female of the new species distinctly differs from all members of the narrowly defined hippopus group by having triangular lobes of the subgenital plate, contrary to the bulging, rounded, square, or finger-like lobes of the other species. The subgenital plate most resembles the not closely related L. armata Kempny, 1899 , which has a small central lobule between the base of the lobes.

Distribution and ecology.

The species was collected at two high elevation localities of the Golija Mts of southwestern Serbia (Fig. 1 ). The Golija is a south-eastern range of the Dinarids, a mostly volcanic area with a large plateau, its highest peak reaching more than 1800 meters. Most of the specimens were found at the Moravica Stream, 1–2 meters wide, <0.5 meter deep, running in alder forest (Fig. 6 ). The other habitat, where only a few specimens were found, is a spring brook that belongs to the watershed of the Ibar River, being rather steep and only 0.5 meter wide with a few centimetres depth, running at the edge of a beech forest. Both streams have stony substrates mixed with gravel and small sandy patches. We visited the localities three times ( Murányi and Kovács 2024): the new species was swarming in early May (6. v. 2023, leg. L. P. Kolcsár, T. Kovács, D. Murányi), only a few individuals were found in late June (26. vi. 2018, leg. P. Juhász, T. Kovács, D. Murányi), while no specimens were present in October (23. x. 2023, leg. T. Kovács, D. Murányi, D. Pifkó). At the Moravica Stream, the following species were found to be cohabiting: Brachyptera bulgarica Raušer, 1962 (adults and larvae, May), B. seticornis ( Klapálek, 1902) (adults, larvae, and exuviae, May), Capnia s. l. vidua rilensis Raušer, 1962 (adults, May), Leuctra nigra (adults, May and June), L. cingulata Kempny, 1899 (adults, October), L. dalmoni (adults, May) (Fig. 12 D, H ), L. prima Kempny, 1899 (adults, May), L. cf. balcanica Raušer, 1965 (adults, June), Nemoura cinerea cinerea (adults, June), N. uncinata Despax, 1934 (adults, May), N. marginata (adults, June), an undescribed Nemoura species of the marginata group (adults, May), an undescribed Nemoura related to N. bulgarica Raušer, 1962 (adults, June), Protonemura praecox praecox ( Morton, 1894) (adults, May), P. intricata intricata (Ris, 1902) (adults, June), P. hrabei Raušer, 1956 (adults, October), P. nitida ( Pictet, 1836) (adults, October), Perla cf. pallida (larvae, May to October), Isoperla cf. russevi Sowa, 1970 (adults, June), Chloroperla russevi Braasch, 1969 (adults, June) and Siphonoperla neglecta (adults, June). At the spring brook, a different set of species were collected: Brachyptera bulgarica (adults, May), Leuctra nigra (adults, May and June), L. fusca fusca ( Linnaeus, 1758) (adults, October), L. cingulata (adults, October), L. hirsuta (adults, October), L. hippopus (adults, May), L. dalmoni (adults, May), L. prima (adults, May), L. cf. balcanica (adults, June), Amphinemura standfussi (Ris, 1902) (adults, June), Protonemura hrabei (adults, October), an undescribed Protonemura species of the auberti group (adults in October, larvae in May and June), Nemoura cinerea cinerea (adults, June), N. marginata (adults, June), the undescribed Nemoura species of the marginata group (adults, May), the undescribed Nemoura related to N. bulgarica (adults, June), Perla cf. pallida (larvae, October), Isoperla russevi (adults, June) and an unidentified Isoperla (adult female, June).

Etymology.

The name golija is derived from the Golija Mountains of Serbia, where the new species was found and is probably restricted to these mountains and the nearby ranges. Used as a noun, gender neutral.

Figures

Figure 1. Collection sites of the four new Leuctra species.

Figure 5. Terminalia of Leuctra golija sp. nov. with setation omitted A male terminalia, dorsal view B same, lateral view C same, ventral view D male paraprocts and specillae, caudal view E female terminalia, ventral view F same, lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Figure 6. Habitat of Leuctra golija sp. nov.: Moravica Stream in the Golija Mts (type locality, 23. x. 2023).

Figure 7. Terminalia of four Balkan members of the Leuctra hippopus group A – D male terminalia, dorsal view E – H female terminalia, ventral view. A, E L. enigma sp. nov., Çermenikë Mts, Albania B, F L. golija sp. nov., Golija Mts, Serbia C, G L. pseudohippopus Raušer, 1965, Stara Planina, Serbia D, H L. hippopoides Kaćanski & Zwick, 1970, Sutjeska, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Scale bars: 1 mm (D for A – D, H for E – H).

Figure 12. Terminalia of five Balkan members of the Leuctra prima group A – D, I, K male terminalia, dorsal view E – H, J, L female terminalia, ventral view A, E L. puskasi sp. nov., Kozara Mts, Bosnia & Herzegovina B, F L. visitor sp. nov., Visitor Mts, Montenegro C, G L. dalmoni Vinçon & Murányi, 2007, Visitor Mts, Montenegro D, H L. dalmoni, Golija Mts, Serbia I – J L. prima Kempny, 1899, Börzsöny Mts, Hungary K – L L. pseudosignifera Aubert, 1954, Poljana Mts, Slovakia. Scale bars: 1 mm (D for A – D, I, K; E for E – H, J, L).