Claassenia qingzanga Xiang, Huo & Du, 2022

Xiang, Ya-Nan, Huo, Qing-Bo & Du, Yu-Zhou, 2022, A new species of the genus Claassenia (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from China, Zootaxa 5093 (2), pp. 233-240 : 234-239

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5093.2.6
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:325FA41D-1AAE-4212-9277-09AB5E3467D6
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5915177
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6028CA70-FFF2-6645-BD98-FF5EE026FAB9
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Claassenia qingzanga Xiang, Huo & Du
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Claassenia qingzanga Xiang, Huo & Du View in CoL , sp. nov.

Figs. 1–7 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 View FIGURE 4 View FIGURE 5 View FIGURE 6 View FIGURE 7

Adult habitus: General color brownish to dark brown, head brown with dark pattern ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 , 5A View FIGURE 5 ); triocellate, lateral ocelli white, with black circles surrounded, brown spot forming a V-shape that radiates towards antennae, posterior ocelli are larger, the distance between posterior ocelli is 2x to 3x width of anterior ocellus. Antennae dark brown and palpi brown. Pronotum subquadrate, the margin of pronotum and middle longitudinal line were dark brown, the middle part was yellowish-brown, surface rugose. Legs brown, femorotibial joints darker. Wings brownish with veins dark brown ( Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 , 4 View FIGURE 4 ).

Male: Forewing length 6.8–7.5 mm (N=10), hindwing length 5.8–6.0 mm, body length 24.8–30.4 mm.Abdomen yellowish-brown or brown ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 ). Tergum 1–7 simple without obvious change, middle third of tergum 9 slightly concave with an oval patch of sensilla basiconica; tergum 10 cleft, hemitergal lobes elongate, finger-like, bluntly rounded, extending over 1/3 of tergum 9 ( Fig. 2B, D View FIGURE 2 ). Sternum 9 with raised, sclerotized, an oval hammer at the middle of the posterior margin with light brown depressed area on both sides of the hammer; abdominal sterna with hairs ( Fig. 2C View FIGURE 2 ). Aedeagus membranous, narrowed in the middle, basally without any conspicuous lobes or spines, dorsal apex with tiny spines, lateral apex with dense protrusion ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 ).

Female: Forewing length 32.9 mm (N=1), hindwing length 28.8 mm, body length 31.4 mm ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ). Sternum 8 backward extension slight or inconspicuous, hypoproct long triangle, slightly bends upward; the intersegmental membrane of sternum 9 and 10 with a band of hairs ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ).

Egg: Length ca. 0.55 mm, width ca. 0.38 mm. Chicken egg-shaped, cap membranous, collar not seen. Chorion covered with shallow pits and without ridges ( Fig. 6A, B View FIGURE 6 ).

Type material: Holotype: ♂, China: Tibet, Zogang County, about 1 km away from Yuqu River , 3783 m, 97° 50’ 11.41’’ E, 29° 40’ 15.65” N, 2020-VII-11, leg. Wang Lu-Yu, Liu Piao, Yuan Tao, Hou Yan-Meng GoogleMaps . Paratypes: 4♂♂, 1♀♀, same data as the holotype GoogleMaps ; 5♂♂, China: Qinghai Province, Haibei Prefecture, Xianmi Township, Taola village , close to Taolagou River , 2596m, 102° 0’ 36 “ E, 37° 19’ 12” N, 2021-VII-3, leg. Zang Hao-Ming. GoogleMaps

Etymology: The scientific name refers to its type locality, “Qingzang” means Qinghai-Tibet in Chinese.

Distribution: China (Tibet, Qinghai Province).

Remarks: The new species is the first record of Claassenia in Tibet and Qinghai provinces. It is worth noting that male specimens exhibit minor differences between the Tibet and Qinghai locations. Tergum 8 of specimens collected from Qinghai Province have a small, circular patch of sensilla basiconica near the posterior margin ( Fig. 7B View FIGURE 7 ), but the specimens collected from Tibet lack this patch and have several scattered, large, socketed setae ( Fig. 2B View FIGURE 2 ). No other obvious differences were found, so we identified them all as C. qingzanga n. sp.

When compared with other known species of this genus, the new species exhibits several diagnostic morphological characters. The male hemitergal lobes of C. bischoffi clefted by tergum 10 are recurved processes with the tips meeting on the median line (see Wu 1938: figs. 163–164), while in C. qingzanga the curve upward and extend over 1/3 of tergum 9. Additionally, the male transformed sternum 9 of C. bischoffi is broader than that of C. qingzanga . The morphological structure of both male and female of C. caudata was not described ( Klapálek 1916), when we compared with the female holotype pictures provided by colleague D. Murányi, the pronotum of C. caudata were bluntly pointed and the front margin nearly straight ( Fig. 8 View FIGURE 8 ), but in C. qingzanga , the four corners are round and the front margin obviously convex. The holotype of C. fulva was not well preserved, so we referred to Wu 1973. The hemitergal lobes of C. fulva are shorter, only extending to the posterior margin of tergum 9 ( Wu 1973: fig. 94), while the hemitergal lobes of C. qingzanga extending over 1/3 of tergum 9. Moreover, the sclerotization pattern of the male sternum 9 is different so that depressed areas on both sides of the hammer are also different ( Wu 1973: fig. 95). Claassenia gigas only has descriptions of body length and color pattern for the female holotype ( Klapálek 1916). When we compared with the female holotype pictures provided by Murányi, C. gigas was quite dark and the pronotum like a transverse rectangle, the hind margin being nearly straight ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 ). It was obviously different from C. qingzanga .

The holotype of C. longistyla was not well preserved, so we referred to Wu 1973. The hemitergal lobes of C. longistyla are much longer than C. qingzanga . In C. longistyla , the hemitergal lobes were distinctly elongated and recurved over anterior 1/3 of tergum 9 ( Wu 1973: figs. 96–97), while the hemitergal lobes of C. qingzanga just extended to 1/3 of the posterior of tergum 9. When compared with C. magna , C. qingzanga collected from Tibet has no papilla patch on tergum 8. Additionally, sternum 9 of C. magna is enlarged and produced posteriorly to cover the greater part of the sternum 10 ( Wu 1948: figs. 4–5), while sternum 9 of C. qingzanga extends posteriorly just slightly. Compared to C. radiata in C. qingzanga collected from Tibet has no papilla patch on tergum 8 ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 12–13). In addition, the aedeagus of C. radiata has a dorsolaterally oriented sparse field of fine setae ( Stark & Sivec 2010) while the aedeagus of C. qingzanga has tiny spines only at the dorsal apex.

Males of the new species were brachypterous. Wu (1938, 1962) mentioned that C. semibrachyptera were brachypterous or macropterous. In C. semibrachyptera the hemitergal lobes were blunt pointed and angled inward to the anterior margin of tergum 10 ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 20–21), while the hemitergal lobes of C. qingzanga were bluntly round and recurved to 1/3 of the posterior of tergum 9. In C. semibrachyptera , the sensilla basiconica patch on tergum 9 is wide and oblong ( Stark & Sivec 2010: fig. 20), but is near round in C. qingzanga . Additionally, the aedeagus of C. semibrachyptera has a scattered, lateral patch of fine setae ( Stark & Sivec 2010), while C. qingzanga has a dense protrusion at the lateral apex. Claassenia tincta was redescribed by Aubert (1956), and the types kept in Paris. Tergum 9 of C. tincta lacks an oval patch of sensilla basiconica on male ( Wu 1938: figs. 171–172), which exists in C. qingzanga .

We also compared the new species with C. xucheni reported from Chongqing, near Sichuan province. Male of C. xucheni , the posterior half of sternum 9 is transformed into a broad subgenital plate with C-shaped sclerite along the caudal edge which medially touches the hammer ( Chen 2019: figs. 7–9), while the C-shaped sclerite was not found in C. qingzanga . There are tiny spines at the end of the aedeagus in C. qingzanga , but the aedeagus of C. xucheni is completely membranous, without any conspicuous lobes or spines ( Chen 2019: figs. 5–8). Additionally, three other species occur in China that have been informally described. In C. ChA, the hemitergal lobes are swollen, membranous and bare on the ventroapical margin ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 26–27), while in C. qingzanga , the hemitergal lobes are bluntly round and ventroapically sclerotized. In C. ChB, only the characteristics of eggs are known. The egg of C. ChB are apically truncate and surrounded with conspicuous micropyles ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 28–31), however, the egg of C. qingzanga has a slight sharp apex and visible micropyles were not found. In C. ChC, the hemitergal lobes are positioned parallel to one another for most of length and the subgenital plate of female is bilobed ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 32–34), but the hemitergal lobes of C. qingzanga bended up and contacted each other at the end, and the subgenital plate of female is complete.

In addition, C. qingzanga can also be distinguished from the three species from outside China. In the Russian species C. brachyptera , the sensilla basiconica of tergum 8 on the male is wider ( Teslenko & Zhiltzova 2009: fig. 283) than on C. qingzanga collected from Qinghai Province. Furthermore, C. qingzanga collected from Tibet has no sensilla basiconica on tergum 8. In the North American species C. sabulosa , males have a medial, circular patch of sensilla basiconica on tergum 9 ( Sivec, Stark & Uchida 1988: fig. 2c), while C. qingzanga has an oval patch. Additionally, the male abdominal sterna of C. qingzanga has a dense band of hairs that is absent in C. sabulosa ( Sivec, Stark & Uchida 1988: fig. 2d). In the Bhutan species C. drukpa , the hemitergal lobes on the male are shorter, being only slightly forward of median in dorsal aspect ( Stark & Sivec 2010: figs. 2–4). In C. qingzanga , hemitergal lobes extend over ⅓ of tergum 9.

Descriptions of Claassenia are still insufficient for comparative analysis. New specimens and supplemental descriptions and illustrations are needed.