Glyptobasis nugax ( Walker, 1853 )

Suryanarayanan, Thangalazhi Balakrishnan, Ábrahám, Levente & Bijoy, Chenthamarakshan, 2024, Taxonomic revision of the owlfly genus Glyptobasis McLachlan, 1873 (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae) from India and its adjacent countries, Zootaxa 5486 (3), pp. 388-418 : 407-408

Glyptobasis nugax ( Walker, 1853)

( Fig. 15 )

Ascalaphus nugax Walker, 1853: 433 ; Hagen 1858: 481.

Ascalaphus rugax [sic]— Motschulsky 1863: 9.

Ascalaphus incusans Walker, 1853: 442 ; Motschulsky 1863: 9.

Colobopterus incusans ( Walker, 1853) — Hagen 1866: 399.

Colobopterus nugax ( Walker, 1853) — Hagen 1866: 400.

Glyptobasis incusans — McLachlan 1873a: 268; van der Weele 1909a: 243; Fraser 1922: 517; Kimmins 1949: 20.

Glyptobasis nugax — van der Weele 1909a: 243; Navás 1912: 107.

Fraser 1922: 517; Navás 1925: 181; Kimmins 1949: 20; Ghosh & Sen 1977: 322; Sziráki 1998: 62; Chandra & Sharma 2009: 5; Sharma & Chandra 2012: 485; Sharma & Chandra 2013: 164.

Type locality: Sri Lanka (former Ceylon) .

Type material examined. Syntypes, preserved in NMHUK, were checked.

/ Type // Ceylon // nugax // nugax Wlk. // NHMUK 013804012 /. Type ♂ ( Figs. 15A–C ).

Additional figs.

https://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/7832997b-4e3b-4ee9-93b9-2524d23ac706/1700092800000

Retrieved: 18 Nov 2023 18:54:59 ( UTC)

/ Type // Ceylon // incusans // incusans Wlk. // NHMUK 013804013 /. Type ♂ ( Figs. 16A–C ).

Additional material examined. 1♀ / incusans / Wlk. / Ceylon / merid. Fruhst. // Zoologisches Museum / Univeristat Greisfwald /.

Measurements. Female (n=2): forewing length: 30–34 mm, width: 7–8 mm; hindwing length: 27–30 mm, width: 6–7 mm.

Diagnostic characters. Vertex and frons with long hairs. Frons shiny brown with long brown and white hairs. Clypeus and labrum dominantly brown. In males, antennal segment 1 at least as long as segments 2–3 together. Basal segments slightly curved with 3–5 segments with teeth and other segments nodulated with short bristles. Antenna not reaching pterostigma. Mesothorax with wider distinct yellow band, metathorax with narrower distinct yellow band in lateral view. Apices of wings rounded. Pterostigma brown. Legs reddish brown. Male ectoproct processus short and as wide as width of ectoproct curving downward and inward in lateral view. Sternite 9 triangular, significantly wider at base than high, tip hood-like. Gonocoxite 9 arched and with pair of wide curved horn-shaped extensions, apices acute, wider at base with slight protrusion inwards. Terminalia and genitalia as in Kimmins (1949: figs 8–9).

Distribution. Sri Lanka ( Kimmins 1949), India (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha) ( Fraser 1922) ( Fig. 21 ).

Flight period of adult. Active during the months of August and September in India ( Fraser 1922), March, April, June, October, and November in Sri Lanka ( Kimmins 1949) ( Fig. 22 ).

Remarks. This species was described from Sri Lanka ( Ceylon) ( Walker 1853). The type specimen of G. nugax is a female and G. incusans is a male. McLachlan (1873a) was able to correctly determine that they belonged to the same species. Its occurrence in India was first documented by Fraser (1922), but he considered his determination uncertain. Since then, no new faunistic data from India have become known ( Ghosh & Sen 1977; Sharma & Chandra 2012, 2013). The occurrence of the species in India must be confirmed to validate earlier accounts.

Figures

FIGURES 15A–C. Type specimen of Glyptobasis nugax (Walker, 1853) preserved in the NHMUK, A—Habitus, B—Head in frontal view; C—Head and thorax in lateral view.

FIGURES 16A–C. Type specimen of Glyptobasis inclusans (Walker, 1853) preserved in the NHMUK, A—Habitus, B—Head in frontal view; C—Head and thorax in lateral view.

FIGURE 21. Distribution map of Glyptobasis species from India and surrounding countries; black circle—G. nigrifrons, red circle—G. cornuta, brown circle—G. nugax, yellow circle—G. weelei, blue circle—G. spinicornis, orange circle—G. fraseri.

FIGURE 22. Flight period of Glyptobasis species from India and surrounding countries.