Perla andalusiaca, Reding, 2023

Reding, Jean-Paul G., 2023, Steps towards a revision of the Perla bipunctata Pictet, 1833 species complex (Plecoptera: Perlidae), Fragmenta entomologica (Frag. Entomol., Roma) 55 (2), pp. 221-262 : 230-231

Perla andalusiaca sp. n.

( Figs G.1–G .15). urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BBA26BF2-D8DF-41A9-86B9-DCCB8CA6A4E9

Perla maxima ; Aubert (1956a: 255); Aubert (1963:79); Picazo Muñoz (1995), in: Sánchez-Ortega et al. (2003)

Perla bipunctata ; Tierno de Figueroa et al. (2005, 2015a, 2018); Bo et al. (2008); López-Rodríguez et al. (2012); Luzón-Ortega et al. (2013) Sanz et al. (2014, 2017). Morphological diagnosis. Males and females macropterous. Body length of males 18–26 mm; of females 20–34 mm. Body colour dark brown. Head mostly yellow with tawny markings; M-line not clearly delineated ( Figs G.1 , G.2). Pronotum pale yellow, with a large dark central band flanked with a symmetrical darker design ( Figs G.1 , G.2). Inner half of the two lower ocelli circled by a narrow black band (Fig. G.2).

Type material. Holotype male: SPAIN. Granada province , River Castril , Sierra de Castril, 1220 m, 37° 54’ 25.0560’’ N, 2° 44’ 51.4788’’ W, 16 Jun 2005, holotype, 1♂ (with penial armature detached), leg. J. M. Tierno de Figueroa & M. J. López-Rodríguez ( MZL) . Paratypes: same location, 16 Jun 2005, 1♂ (with penial armature detached), ( MZL) ; 1♀ ( MZL) ; 14 Dec 2004, 1L ♂ ( MZL); leg. J. M. Tierno de Figueroa & M. J. López-Rodríguez. Additional material is listed in the Appendix 1, under type G.

Male adults. Sclerotized apex of aedeagus slightly enlarged medially in specimens with de vivo everted aedeagus ( Fig. G.4 ) and with nearly parallel sides in dissect- ed specimens ( Figs. G.3 , G. 5 ), distally terminated by two triangle-shaped extensions ( Figs G.4 , G. 5 , G.6), and with a brush-like apex ( Figs. G.3 , G. 5 ). Aedeagal tube cylindrical ( Fig G.4 ). Mesal field on tergite IX distally with a very small medial incision (Figs G.6). Apex of hemitergal lobes of tergite X blunt, wide and short, apically enlarged, in lateral view ( Fig. G.7 ). Aedeagal tube covered by a dense field of setae with alternating lengths and densities (Fig. G.8).

Morphological affinities. Adult males of Perla andalusiaca sp. n. are close to those of Perla pyrenaica sp. n. (type E) by the sclerotized apex of their aedeagus (cf. Figs. G.5 and E. 3 ). The distal side of the hemitergal lobes of tergite X is not enlarged apically in specimens of Perla andalusiaca sp. n. ( Fig. G.7 ), whereas we find a ham- mer-like extension in specimens of Perla pyrenaica sp. n. (Fig. E.8).

Female adults. Subgenital plate with two distinct median triangular extensions (Fig. G.9).

Nymphs. Head mostly yellow, with narrow, darker coloured M-line ( Fig. G.10 ). Pronotum with a large, dark, central band flanked by two dot-like dark patches loosely connected only to the upper edge of the pronotum ( Fig. G.10 ). Rim of pronotum with a narrow, half-circled band ( Fig. G.10 ). Lateral edges of pronotum yellow ( Fig. G.10 ). Yellow markings on tergites III to V continuous, covering the entire distal edge of the corresponding segments ( Fig. G.11 ). Tergites with long mediodorsal flexible setae, in lateral view ( Fig. G.12 ). Dorsal faces of femora of middle and hind legs with a dark central oval mark ( Fig. G.13 ). Paraprocts with conical apex (Fig. G.14). Cerci with a sparse fringe of long, basal mediodorsal setae, not extending beyond segment XV (Figs. G.14, G.15).

Morphological affinities. Nymphs of Perla andalusiaca sp. n. are separable from those of Perla pyrenaica sp. n. (type E) by the presence of a sparse and short fringe of basal mediodorsal setae on the cerci of the former (Figs. G.14, G.15) and by a much longer fringe on the latter (Fig. E.14). The yellow markings on tergites III to V are continuous, and covering the entire distal edge of the corresponding segments in Perla andalusiaca sp. n. ( Fig. G.11 ), whereas they are dot-like in Perla pyrenaica sp. n. ( Fig. E.12 ).

Distribution. This species is presently known only from the Sierra de Castril and the Sierra Nevada, but is likely to have a wider distribution in Andalusia. The material is listed in the Appendix 1, under type G.

Derivation nominis. This species is named after the region which it inhabits. The adjective andalusiaca is to be treated as a feminine Latin adjective in the nominative case combined with Perla .

Note. Perla hagenii Pictet, 1865 , described after a single female from the outskirts of Granada (pp. 12–13; plate 2, Figs 1–3 in Pictet 1865), could correspond to Perla andalusiaca sp. n., since the female subgenital plate and the markings on the head are similar to it ( Figs G.16 , G.17). Perla hagenii has been later synonymized with P. marginata ( DeWalt et al. 2023) , referring to Illies (1966: 292), who in turn refers, erroneously, to Aubert (1956a). Aubert (1956a), indeed, considers Perla hagenii as a synonym of Perla maxima ( Perla grandis ), not P. marginata , as did also Navás (1901). Later, however, Aubert (1963) considered the species as a synonym of Perla marginata . To judge from Pictet’s (1865) illustrations ( Figs G.16 , G.17), this taxon could, however, also correspond to Perla madritensis Rambur, 1842 . Since no holotype had been designated by Pictet (1865), and since his description is based on a single female specimen, it is safer to designate Perla hagenii as a nomen dubium, and not as a synonym of Perla marginata ( DeWalt et al. 2023) .

Specimens of the Perla bipunctata / grandis group are also mentioned from the Cantabrian Cordillera ( Vinçon & Pardo 2004; González del Tánago 1984) and Asturias. Navás (1917) had described a brachypterous species labelled Perla bicaudata L. ( maxima auct.) var. asturica from Río de Nueva, a low altitude river in Asturias, and indicates in his description “ Alae apicem abdominis haud attingentes ” (The wings not reaching the tip of the abdomen). This brachypterous species is presently ranked as a nomen dubium ( DeWalt et al. 2023), whereas Aubert (1952: 249) considered it as a valid species, endemic to the Cantabrian Cordillera, and Illies (1966: 293, 498) listed it as a synonym of Perla maxima ( Perla grandis or Perla bipunctata , uncertain synonymy, see above). By its brachypterism, this species corresponds to an extra-alpine taxon of the group, but is neither identical with brachypterous Perla carlukiana (type D) ( Navás 1917: 5 “ Similis var. carlukianae Klap. , obscurior ”), nor with macropterous Perla bipunctata as considered by Pictet, 1833 (type C). Brachypterous male nymphs probably belonging to this taxon have been collected by M. González del Tánago and D. García de Jalón (González del Tánago 1984) and Aubert (1956a: 255, under Perla maxima ) in the Cantabrian Cordillera. Since adults of this taxon were not available, and the type specimen being lost ( Aubert 1952: 249), the taxonomical status of Perla asturica Navás, 1917 cannot be ascertained at the time of writing. The putative nymphs of this morphospecies with brachypterous males are easily separable from those of all other known species, except specimens of type F (putative Perla bipunctata ) from the Pyrenees. We informally describe these nymphal specimens from the Cantabrian Cordillera, possibly identical with the Perla asturica of Navás (1917), and with the putative Perla bipunctata from the Pyrenees (type F) described by Despax (1942), under type H below.

Figures

Plate I, Figs A.1–A.9 – Type A (Italian Alps and Apennines). A.1, hemitergal lobes, mesal field with sensilla and sclerotized apex of everted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Soana); A.2, sclerotized apex of everted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Staffora); A.3, sclerotized apex of extracted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Stura di Ala); A.4, sclerotized apex of everted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Soana); A.5, aedeagal tube of adult ♂; A.6, aedeagal tube and hemitergal lobes of adult ♂; A.7, adult ♂, hemitergal lobes and mesal field with sensilla (Southern Apennines); A.8, sclerotized apex of extracted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Southern Apennines); A.9, adult ♂, hemitergal lobes and mesal field with sensilla, dorsal view (Stura di Demonte).

Plate III, Figs A.16–A.21 – Type A (French and Swiss Alps). A.16, head and pronotum of nymph (Swiss Alps); A.17, markings on tergites of nymph (Gryonne valley); A.18, markings on tergites of nymph (Sense); A.19, markings on the femora of legs, dorsal view (Gryonne Valley); A.20, sclerotized apex of extracted aedeagus of an adult ♂ (Vercors); A.21, sclerotized apex of aedeagus of Perla grandis, from Aubert 1949: 225, his Fig. 4.

Plate XV, Figs F.3–F.8 – Type F (putative Perla bipunctata from the foothills of the Pyrenees, Río Aragón). F.3, head and pronotum of nymph; F.4, tergites of nymph, dorsal view; F.5, tergites of nymph, dorsal view; F.6, markings on femora; F.7, paraprocts of nymph, ventral view; F.8, cerci of nymph, lateral view.

Plate IX, Figs C.13–C.18 – Type C (nymphs, Nure, Rivers Aare and Emme). C.13, head and pronotum of nymph (Nure); C.14, mediodorsal setation on tergites, lateral view (Nure); C.15, paraprocts, ventral view (Aare); C.16, head and pronotum of nymph (Aare); C.17, oval markings on femora (Emme); C.18, sclerotized apex of aedeagus of Perla bipunctata, from Aubert 1949: 225, his Fig. 5.

Plate VIII, Figs C.7–C.12 – Type C (nymphs, Rivers Nure, Aare and Emme). C.7, basal section of cerci of nymph, lateral view (Emme); C.8, markings on tergites of nymph (Nure); C.9, head, pro-, meso- and metanotum of nymph (Aare); C.10, basal section of cerci of nymph (Aare); C.11, head and pronotum of nymph (Aare); C.12, markings on tergites of nymph (Aare).

Plate II, Figs A.10–A.15 – Type A (male and female adults, nymphs). A.10, adult ♂, hemitergal lobes, lateral view (Southern Apennines); A.11, head and pronotum of an adult ♂ (Stura di Demonte); A.12, subgenital plate of adult ♀ (Stura di Demonte); A.13, subgenital plate of adult ♀ (Haute-Savoie); A.14, basal section of cerci of nymph (Staffora); A.15, basal section of cerci of nymph (Gryonne valley).

Plate XIV, Figs F.1–F.2 – Type F (putative Perla bipunctata from the foothills of the French Pyrenees). F.1, illustrations of Despax (1942, his Figs 11, 12. Fig. 11 = adult ♂b with everted aedeagus, lateral view; Fig. 12 = adult ♂b, sclerotized apex of aedeagus); F.2, illustrations of Despax (1951, his Fig. 86, D, E, F. D = adult ♂b, mesal field with sensilla; E = adult ♂b, mesal field; F = adult ♂b, hemitergite).