Zealeuctra talladega Grubbs

Grubbs, Scott A., Kondratieff, Boris C., Stark, Bill P. & DeWalt, R. Edward, 2013, A review of the Nearctic genus Zealeuctra Ricker (Plecoptera, Leuctridae), with the description of a new species from the Cumberland Plateau region of eastern North America, ZooKeys 344, pp. 17-47 : 34-36

Zealeuctra talladega Grubbs Figs 7, 13

Zealeuctra talladega Grubbs, 2005: 40. Holotype ♂ (INHS), tributary to Barbaree Creek, 22 km E Talladega, Clay Co., Alabama

Description.

Male - abdominal tergal cleft. Anterior portion is near parallel-sided, U-shaped, and broadly rounded along anterior margin (Figs 7 A–C). Posterior portion is somewhat V-shaped and sinuous along inner margins, posterior terminus marked by either a single (Fig. 7C) or paired (Figs 7 A– 8B) medially-directed subtriangular projections. Crenulations absent from inner margins of cleft..

Male - epiproct. Base very broad and subquadrate in shape, narrowing to anteriorly-recurved and broadly tapering terminal spine, no accessory spine present although a small subterminal posterior nub may be present (Figs 7 D–F). Subquadrate base varies from rounded broadly to right angular in shape. No accessory spine or cusp present, but a minute, very low, medially-positioned hump is present along the anterior, recurved portion of epiproct (Figs 7 D–F).

Female - 7th sternum. Seventh sternum with a small, lobe nested in a scarcely-convex central notch. Lobe ranges in shape from subtriangular (Fig. 7G) to convex (Fig. 7H). Posterior margin moderately convex.

Material examined.

USA, Alabama: Clay Co., tributary to Barbaree Creek, 22 km E Talladega, Talladega National Forest, 33.4187, -85.8706, 16.II.2003, S.A. Grubbs and D.K. King, 2♂, 2♀ (WKUC - paratypes); same but 5.III.2012, S.A. Grubbs, ♂, 4♀ (WKUC); Swept Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2602, -86.1006, 23.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, ♀ (WKUC); tributary to Swept Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2595, -86.1031, 23.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, 3♂, 6♀ (WKUC); tributary to Swept Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2632, -86.0922, 24.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, 7♂, 9♀ (WKUC); South Branch Swept Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2607, -86.0952, 24.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, 2♂, 6♀ (WKUC); tributary to Swept Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2614, -86.0955, 24.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, ♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, Forest, 33.2938, -86.0780, 25.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, ♂ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, Forest, 33.2740, -86.0733, 25.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, ♂, ♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, Forest, 33.2823, -86.0666, 25.I.2006, A.L. Sheldon, 4♂, 4♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2825, -86.0668, 8.III.2007, A.L. Sheldon, 3♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2743, -86.0739, 8.III.2007, A.L. Sheldon, 2♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.3219, -86.0671, 7.IV.2008, A.L. Sheldon, 2♀ (WKUC); tributary to West Fork Hatchet Creek, FR 662, 16 km SSE Talladega, Talladega National Forest, 33.3048, -86.0380, 5.III.2012, S.A. Grubbs, ♂, 2♀ (WKUC); tributary to Hatchet Creek, FR 687, Talladega National Forest, 33.1557, -86.1196, 5.III.2012, S.A. Grubbs, 4♀ (WKUC); tributary to Cheaha Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.4397, -85.8387, 5.III.2012, S.A. Grubbs, ♀ (WKUC); tributary to Tallaseehatchie Creek, FR 616, Talladega National Forest, 33.2053, -86.0800, 5.III.2012, S.A. Grubbs, ♂, 2♀ (WKUC); Cleburne Co., Cheaha Creek, above Cheaha Lake, Cheaha State Park, 2.III.1991, R.W. Baumann and S.M. Clark, 2♂, 2♀ (BYUC); Talladega Co., tributary to Smelley Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.2988, -86.0842, 8.III.2007, A.L. Sheldon, ♂, 6♀ (WKUC), Smelley Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.3010, -86.0945, 21.XII.2007, A.L. Sheldon, ♂ (WKUC); tributary to Smelley Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.3006, -86.0862, 7.IV.2008, A.L. Sheldon, ♂, 2♀ (WKUC).

Distribution.

USA: AL ( DeWalt et al. 2012)

Remarks.

This species is known only from the southern Talladega Mountains region of eastern Alabama (Fig. 13), the southern terminus of the Appalachian Moun tains. Extensive collecting efforts by both the author and Dr. Andrew Sheldon since 2005 have yet to produce localities north from the two counties (Clay and Talladega) where this species has been obtained.