Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas

Sosa, Francisco & Freitas, Sergio De, 2012, A new genus of Neotropical Chrysopini (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), Zootaxa 3351, pp. 1-14 : 2-3

Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas , gen. nov.

Type species: Titanochrysa circumfusa (Burmeister, 1939) comb. nov.

Generic characters. Vertex smooth or striated; scape and pedicel with a dark red, longitudinal stripe laterally; flagellum pale green, generally covered with black bristles, as long or longer than forewings; face elongate, labrum slightly incised; genae and lateral clypeus tinged with dark red or black; maxillary palpi black; labial palpi variabile, with black tinge; mandibles symmetrical or asymmetrical. Forewings generally with wide costal area, crossveins generally shaded. Male terminalia: ninth tergite and ectoproct (T9+ect) densely covered by stalked setae, base acute or truncated; callus cerci round or slightly ovate; sternites 8 and 9 (S8+9) elongate, fused; microtholi absent or present ( Figs. 3 A, 7A). Female terminalia: seventh sternite (S7) at least 2.0 times longer than wide; posterior margin of T9+ect usually with a medial cleft beneath level of callus cerci ( Figs. 8 A, 12A, 16A). Male genitalia: tignum, parameres, entoprocessus, gonocornua and spinellae absent; gonarcus U-shaped, gonarcal bridge narrow; arcessus usually with dorsal striation, apex trilobate, terminus with mesal beak flanked by lateral lobes; gonosaccus with long gonosetae generally on prominent papillae; microsetae present or absent. Gonapsis spoonshaped, wide anteriorly, narrow posteriorly, short in relation to S8+9. Female genitalia: spermatheca pillboxshaped; ventral impression shallow or deep; velum short; spermathecal duct elongate; bursa copulatrix sacular, with short, filamentous bursal gland; subgenitale cordate with dorsal section lobate.

Other species: Titanochrysa pseudovaricosa ( Penny, 1998) comb. nov; Titanochrysa ferreirai Sosa & Freitas sp. nov., and Titanochrysa trespuntensis Sosa & Freitas sp. nov.

Etymology: The name Titanochrysa refers to the “ Titans ”, powerful dieties that had a large role in Greek mythology [= large size, in reference to the elongate S8+9] and to “ Chrysos ” meaning golden, as in the original description of green lacewings. The word is considered feminine.

Generic relationships. Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov. shares external and genitalic characteristics with Ceraeochrysa , Chrysopodes , Cryptochrysa , Parachrysopiella and Ungla, Only Ceraeochrysa , Cryptochrysa and Parachrysopiella have a gonapsis, although Adams & Penny (1985) and Tauber (2003) recorded a short gonapsis for some species of Chrysopodes , but in accordance with Brooks & Barnard (1990) this structure should be absent in this genus.

Ceraeochrysa adults are characterized by pale green coloration, pronotum generally with a red, longitudinal, lateral stripe; scape and pedicel with dorsal, lateral, or both dorsal and lateral longitudinal, red lines; frons and genae generally green, black in a few species [see Freitas et al. (2009) and Sosa & Freitas (2010, 2011)]. The following features of Ceraeochrysa adults distinguish them from Titanochrysa gen. nov. male sternites without microtholi, gonarcal complex with wide gonarcal bridge, well developed gonocornua, long or short arcessus with large median plate, gonapsis elongate (usually as long as S8+9), narrow, and bifurcate apically; female spermatheca usually elongate, J- or U-shaped ( Adams 1982b; Brooks & Barnard 1990; Freitas et at. 2009).

Cryptochrysa (known from one species) has the following adult characters that distinguish it from Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov.: pronotum with a brown (not red), longitudinal, lateral stripe; scape at least 2.0 times longer than wide; forewing with narrow costal area; S8+9 elongate, but without microtholi; gonarcal complex with a narrow gonarcal bridge, gonocornua present as a pair of flattened plates, and arcessus spiculose subapically; the gonapsis is elongate, with hook-shaped, lateral projections anteriorly ( Freitas & Penny 2000).

Parachrysopiella adults differ from Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov. in that the body is small, marked with a longitudinal, median brown stripe on the pronotum; eyes very small compared with head width; ectoproct extended posteriorly and covered by coarse spine-like setae apically, gonarcal complex with short, narrow gonarcal bridge, arcessus with dorsal surface smooth, apex hook-shaped, not flanked by lateral lobes; the gonapsis is flat, broad and crown-shaped apically ( Brooks & Barnard 1990; Penny 1996). This genus is known only from the Andean region.

Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov. and Ungla are very similar in their female genitalia. However, the wider costal area in the forewings, basal inner gradate meeting the Psm, T9+ect with dorsal apodemes, S8+9 generally with microtholi and male genitalia with short, wide and generally striate arcessus, observed in Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov. distinguish it from Ungla , where the costal area is narrow, the basal inner gradate generally does not meet the Psm, the T9+ect is without an apodeme, S1–8 without microtholi, and the arcessus is longer than wide, without dorsal striations.

The wide costal area on the forewings of the Titanochrysa Sosa & Freitas gen. nov. is shared with many species of Chrysopodes , but the elongate S8+9, gonosaccus bearing elongate gonosetae and microsetae, spoon-shaped gonapsis, and pillbox-like spermatheca of Titanochrysa distinguish it from this genus.

Geographical distribution. Costa Rica, Venezuela and Brazil.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Titanochrysa circumfusa (Burmeister, 1839) comb. nov. (Male, Sanare, Lara, Venezuela). A) Terminalia, lateral; B) gonarcal complex, dorsal; C) gonarcal complex, lateral; D – E) Gonarcal complex, frontodorsal; F) Gonarcal complex, frontal. Note the prominent the elongate gonosetae on papillae; G) Gonapsis, frontal, frontolateral and lateral. ap-gs = lateral apodemes of gonarcus; ar = arcessus; cc = callus cerci; d. ap = apodeme of T 9 + ect; gp = gonapsis; gs = gonarcus; gsac = gonosaccus; gst = gonosetae; l. lb = lateral lobe; st = setae; S 8 + 9 = fused sternites 8 and 9; T 9 + ect = tergite 9 and ectoproct; v. ap = apodeme of S 8 + 9.

FIGURE 8. Titanochrysa pseudovaricosa (Penny, 1998) comb. nov. (Female, Puntarenas, Costa Rica). A) Terminalia, lateral; B) Spermatheca, lateral; C) Spermatheca, dorsal. S 6 = sternite 6; S 7 = sternite 7; sp = spermatheca; sp. d = spermathecal duct; T 9 + ect = Tergite 9 + ectoproct; v = velum; v. i = ventral impression.