Plectrocnemia monacanthus Zhong, Yang & Morse

Zhong, Hua, Yang, Lian-Fang & Morse, John C., 2012, The genus Plectrocnemia Stephens in China (Trichoptera, Polycentropodidae), Zootaxa 3489, pp. 1-24 : 2-3

Plectrocnemia monacanthus Zhong, Yang & Morse , sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Adult. Length of each male forewing 4.5–5.0 mm (N = 3, where N is the number of individuals measured in this study). Head of specimen in alcohol brown with antennae and warts yellowish brown, pronotum light brown, meso- and metanota brown with yellowish warts, forewings light brown.

Male genitalia. Sternum IX strongly produced forward in triangle in lateral view ( Fig. 1 B), its posterior margin cut back at 2/3 distance from ventral margin to short stake; in ventral view ( Fig. 1 A), anterior margin deeply excised in “V” shape, rounded posterior excision with small mesal protrusion; tergum IX very lightly sclerotized, triangular in lateral view, membranous apicodorsally. Tergum X semi-membranous, narrowly and shallowly incised apicomesally. Intermediate appendages forming pair of broad plates each with stout, recurved spine. Preanal appendages obliquely erect, about 3/4ths as tall as tergum IX, about 3 times as long as wide, with rounded apex in lateral view; mesoventral processes of preanal appendages forming pair of highly sclerotized, complicated structures, each with 2 slender branches extending beyond posteroventral margin of its preanal appendage, with apex of lower branch curved upward in lateral view; in caudal view ( Fig. 1 E), additional small spine set on mesal margin of mesoventral process. Inferior appendages short, about as long as tall, each with distal margin broad and truncate in lateral view ( Fig. 1 B); in ventral view ( Fig. 1 A), inner surface of apex of each inferior appendage covered with tiny teeth, ventromesal process of each appendage subrectangular, with truncate apex densely covered with tiny teeth; 4–7 apical setae of mesal plate arranged in row in caudal view (1F), its basal digitate process slender with simple apex. Phallobase approximately as long as, but slightly broader than phallicata, 1 pair of paramere spines about 1.3 times as long as phallobase; pair of phallic sclerites curved downward, stout in basal half and narrowing to acute apices in lateral view ( Fig. 1 D), compressed against each other in ventral view.

This new species is very similar to P. potchina Mosely 1942 from China (Fu-jian). The male differs from that of P. potchina in the following characters: 1) intermediate appendages forming a pair of broad plates each with a stout, recurved spine (without such structure in P. potchina ); 2) the mesoventral processes of the preanal appendages are as long as the inferior appendages in lateral view, each process bearing 2 branches (shorter than the inferior appendages in lateral view, each process bearing 3 branches in P. potchina ); and 3) the ventromesal processes of the inferior appendages are subrectangular, each with a broad truncate apex in ventral view, (triangular, with narrow apices in P. potchina ).

Holotype male: Guang-xi Province: Shang-si County, N21.89°, E107.90°, Mt. Shi-wan-da National Forest Park, 1st tributary of Shi-tou River, Zhu-jiang-yuan Waterfall, 4 km SW of main entrance to Park, alt. 485 m, 0 6 June 2004, Coll. Zhou X. and K.M. Kjer.

Paratypes: Same data as holotype, 2 males.

Etymology. Monacanthus , a Greek masculine noun in apposition, meaning “a single thorn,” with reference to intermediate appendages each bearing a stout, recurved spine.

Distribution. China (Guang-xi).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Plectrocnemia monacanthus sp. nov., male genitalia. A, ventral view; B, left lateral view; C, dorsal view; D, phallus, left lateral view; E, right tergum IX + X and preanal appendage, caudal view; F, right inferior appendage, caudal view. ap. s. = apical setae of mesal plate; dig. pro. = digitate process of a mesal plate; inf. app. = inferior appendage; int. app. = intermediate appendage; m. v. pro. = mesoventral process of a preanal appendage; para. = paramere; ph. b. = phallobase; ph. c. = phallicata; ph. scl. = phallic sclerite; pre. app. = preanal appendage; s. IX = sternum IX; t. IX = tergum IX; t. X = tergum X; v. pro. = ventromesal process of an inferior appendage.