Protoneura aurantiaca Selys, 1886

Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W., 2017, A synopsis of the Neotropical genus Protoneura (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), Zootaxa 4361 (1), pp. 1-76 : 13-15

Protoneura aurantiaca Selys, 1886

Figs. 3 (♂ habitus), 27 (♀ habitus), 49 (♀ mes. plate), 73 (gen. lig.), 99 (♂ app.), 122 (map)

Protoneura aurantiaca Selys, 1886: 213 –214 (description of ♂ from Panama?);— Calvert (1903: 140, 143, pl. 5, Fig. 44 ; in key, redescription of ♂ from Mexico and Guatemala, illustration of S10);— Calvert (1907: 394, 396; in key);— Williamson (1915: 619, 624–625, Figs. 4 , 17 ; in key, description of ♀, notes on types, illustration of wings and thoracic pattern);— Paulson (1982: 252; Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama);— Donnelly (1989: 436–437, Figs. 3, 4 , 6 ; diagnosis from P. sulfurata , illustrations of ♂ S10 and ♀ mesostigmal plate);— Measey (1994: 45; Belize); — Novelo-Gutiérrez (1994: 26–29, 31, Figs. 1–8 ; description of larva, illustrations of habitus, prementum, labial palp, mandibles, antenna, gonapophysis, cerci, and caudal lamellae, diagnosis from larvae of P. ailsa and P. cupida );— Boomsma & Dunkle (1996: 25; Belize);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (1996: 162; Mexico);— González-Soriano (1997: 253; Mexico);— González-Soriano (2001: 337, notes on biology); — Alonso-Eguía Lis et al. (2002: 352; Mexico);— Rehn (2003: 212; in phylogenetic analysis);— Paulson (2009b; IUCN assessment);— Garrison et al. (2010: 379, Figs. 2506, 2507; illustration ♂ head, ♀ pronotum and mesostigmal plate);— González-Soriano & Paulson (2011: 302, 307; Mexico);—González- Soriano et al. (2011: 184; Mexico);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (2011: 2, Appendix VIII.21.2; Mexico);— Garrison & von Ellenrieder (2013: 22; Costa Rica).

Primary types. Holotype ♂: Panama? [ RBINS].

Specimens examined. 60 ♂ 21 ♀: MEXICO, San Luis Potosí State : 6 ♂ 2 ♀, Huichihuayan, route 85, km 399 {21°28' N, 98°58'3'' W, 100 m}, 7 viii 1966, O.S. Flint, Jr. leg. [USNM]; 1 ♂, same data but [RWG] ; 8 ♂, Huichihuayan, S of Valles, km 410, San Brown Hacienda, 25–27 ix 1938, L.J. Lipovsky leg. [UMMZ]; 1 ♀, Huehuetlán, about 9 mi N of Matlapa on highway 85 {21°26' N, 98°54' W}, 11 iv 1963, R.L. Pyke leg. [ FSCA]; Tabasco State : 1 ♂, Teapa {17°33' N, 92°57' W}, H.H. Smith leg. [ UMMZ]; Veracruz State : 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Presidio, 40 km SE of Cordoba {19°5' N, 96°58' W, 1,599 m} O.S. Flint & M.A. Ortiz leg. [ USNM] ; 1 ♂, stream 4.3 mi E of Cordoba, by highway 150 {18 53' N, 96 50' W}, 13 viii 1965, D.R. Paulson leg. [ UMMZ] ; 1 ♂, same data but [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Laguna Azul, Emilia, and Arroyo de Laguna Escondida near Los Tuxtlas Biological Station , 27 viii 1988, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA] ; 7 ♂ 5 ♀, vicinity of Lagunas Azul and Emilia, Los Tuxtlas Biological Station , about 30 km NE of Catemaco (18°25'12'' N, 95°6'36'' W, 600 m), 7–14 1982, R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG] ; 2 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [ CSCA] ; 2 ♂, same data but [ UMMZ]; Chiapas State : 3 ♂ 3 ♀, Cascada Mizolja, km 47, Palenque-Ocotzingo Road , 20 km S of Palenque (17°20'3'' N, 91°58'37'' W, 260 m), 25 ix 1983, R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [ FSCA]. BELIZE, Cayo Dist. : 1 ♂, medium stream 20.2 mi SE of Belmopan on Hummingbird highway, 27 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), river and small tributary, just east of Roaring Creek at W highway (17°15' N, 88°47' W}, 27 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [RWG]; 2 ♂ 2 ♀, Río Frío at Cave, 1 mile W of Augustine, small forest stream in hardwoods {16°58' N, 89°0' W, 460 m}, 23 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA]; 1 ♂, stream on W highway at Unitedville School, 30 v 1993, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA]; Toledo Dist. : 4 ♂ 1 ♀, Blue Creek Village along Blue Creek (16°11'52'' N, 89°2'32'' W, 42 m), 7–8 i 1989, N.E. Adams leg. [ USNM]. GUATEMALA, Zacapa Dept. : 2 ♂ 1 ♀, Los Amates, along a small wetweather stream in woods {15°16' N, 89°6' W}, 21 vi 1909, E.B. Williamson leg. [UMMZ]; 1 ♂, same data but [ USNM] ; 1 ♂, same data but [ FSCA]. NICARAGUA, Río San Juan Dept .: 1 ♂, San Juan River, Refugio Bartola (10°58'12'' N, 84°20'24'' W, 30 m), 4 v 2001, G. Grether leg. [RWG]. COSTA RICA, Heredia Prov. : 2 ♂, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, La Selva Biological Station, stream in primary forest and grassy area (10°28' N, 84°1' W, 60 m), 25 viii 1988, C. Esquivel H. leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, Finca La Selva (10°26'59'' N, 84°3'52'' W, 37 m), 25 xi 1986, T.C. Emmel leg. [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂, Sarapiquí, small flood plain pool at small clear water river 9.7 km SE of Puerto Viejo {10°22' N, 83°55' W}, 2 iii 1987, S.W. Dunkle leg. [ FSCA] ; 1 ♂, La Horqueta, ditch at road (10°20'22'' N, 83°57'27'' W, 78 m), 27 v 2013, N. von Ellenrieder & R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG]; Limón Prov. : 1 ♂, La Lola, 28.3 mi W of Limón, 22 vii 1963, F.G. Thompson leg. [ FSCA].

Characterization. Male: Epicranium black with an orange spot along anterior margin of postfrons, black stripes on thorax, dorsum of S1, distal portion of S3, and S4–10; pale colors red to orange, and yellow ventrally ( Fig. 3 ). Pronotum anterior lobe black with medial and lateral orange spots, middle lobe with dorsum orange, and posterior lobe entirely orange. Mesepisternum orange with middorsal carina black and a narrow black stripe along distal 1/4 of mesepisternal-mesepimeral suture; mesepimeron orange anteriorly and black posteriorly; metepisternum orange with black along posterior margin; metepimeron entirely pale orange to yellow. Leg yellow with tips of femur, tibia, and tarsi narrowly brown to black, femur and tibia usually with two diffuse brownish rings sub-basally and subapically; tibial spurs shorter than twice intervening spaces. Genital ligula lacking lateral lobes and with a slightly concave distal margin, with lateral margins of distal segment spiculate and laterodistal corners not projected ventrally ( Fig. 73 ). Cercus shorter than S10 length, slightly shorter than paraproct, about as long as wide, with a depression on external dorsolateral surface and a longitudinal split along ventrodistal portion, dorsal margin with a distal concavity and ventral margin slightly convex in lateral view ( Fig. 99a ), with medial surface concave and with a small blunt ventrobasal tooth and two apical pointed dorsal teeth, one on distal margin and one on medial surface, visible in dorsal and mediodorsal views ( Figs. 99b, c ). Paraproct shorter than S10 length, at midlength narrowing to half its basal width and ending in a triangular tip ( Fig. 99 ). TL 35.5–40; Hw 17–18.

Female: As male but middle lobe of pronotum with orange restricted to a lateral band; black stripe extending along distal 3/4 of mesepisternal-mesepimeral suture, and all abdominal segments black dorsally; pale lateral area of S9 extended medially to about 2/3 of segment height. Middle lobe of pronotum lacking pronounced lateral depressions; posterior lobe entire, with sides straight converging to a smoothly convex tip, directed dorsally. Mesostigmal plate approximately triangular with a central concavity, anterior margin carinate and sinuous, and posteromedial corner contiguous with a carina extending midway to middorsal carina, surrounding a depression on mesepisternum ( Fig. 49 ). TL 36–38; Hw 19.5–22.

Diagnosis. Among the species with male paraproct no longer than S10 length, P. aurantiaca shares male cercus that is approximately quadrangular, about as long as wide, with a ventrodistal longitudinal split and depression on external dorsolateral surface, concave medial surface, and two short apical teeth in dorsal view ( Figs. 98 ; 99; 105; 115); and genital ligula distal segment with lateral margins spiculate ( Figs. 72 ; 73; 79; 89) only with P. amatoria , P. cupida , and P. sulfurata . It is diagnosed from P. amatoria under that species, and it can be differentiated from the other two species by its orange color ( Fig. 3 ; pale blue in P. cupida and bright yellow in P. sulfurata , Figs. 9 ; 19). The carinate and sinuous anterior margin of female mesostigmal plate ( Fig. 49 ) is unique within the genus.

Habitat and biology. Adults found along small wet-weather stream in woods in Guatemala ( Williamson 1915), and in Belize ( Measey 1994) along fast-flowing rivers and streams surrounded by forest, open to shady, and at a trickle in a swamp. Larvae were found among shoreline aquatic vegetation at a small clear pond and in small pools of a rocky shaded stream running through high-elevation perennial forest ( Novelo-Gutiérrez 1994). González-Soriano (2001) observed small aggregations of males hovering at 3–4 m above ground level near the edge of a small stream in Mexico.

Distribution. Mexico and Belize south to Nicaragua and Costa Rica ( Fig. 122 ), and possibly Panama (dubious type locality). Assessed as Least Concern by IUCN ( Paulson 2009b).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Male body scan; head in dorsal view, thorax and abdomen in lateral view (not to scale). (1) P. ailsa; (2) P. amatoria; (3) P.aurantiaca; (4) P.caligata.

FIGURES 41–44. Female body scan; head in dorsal view, thorax and abdomen in lateral view (not to scale). (41) P. sanguinipes; (42) P. scintilla; (43) P. sulfurata; (44) P. tenuis. Insert in Fig. 42: posterior lobe of pronotum in dorsal view; in Fig.43: pterothorax in dorsal view.

FIGURES17–20. Male body scan; head in dorsalview, thorax and abdomen in lateral view (not to scale). (17) P.sanguinipes; (18) P.scintilla; (19) P.sulfurata; (20) P. tenuis.

FIGURES 5–8. Male body scan; head in dorsal view, thorax and abdomen in lateral view (not to scale). (5) P. calverti; (6) P. capillaris; (7) P.cara; (8) P.corculum.

FIGURES 71–78. Genital ligula inectal (71–78a) and lateral (71–78b) views (to scale). (71) P.ailsa; (72) P.amatoria; (73) P. aurantiaca; (74) P.caligata; (75) P.calverti; (76) P.capillaris; (77) P.cara; (78) P.corculum. All by RWG.

FIGURES 97–99. Male caudal appendages in lateral (97–99a), posterodorsal (97–99b), and dorsal (97–99b) views (not to scale).(97) P.ailsa; (98) P.amatoria; (99) P.aurantiaca.

FIGURES 47–50. Female pronotum (50a, c) and mesostigmal plates (47–49; 50b, d), in lateral (48a; 50 a, b) and dorsal (47; 48b; 49; 50c, d) views (to scale). (47) P.ailsa; (48) P.amatoria; (49) P.aurantiaca; (50) P. caligata. Figure 50 by RWG.

FIGURES 9–12. Male body scan; head in dorsal view, thorax and abdomen in lateral view (not to scale).(9) P.cupida; (10) P. dunklei; (11) P.klugi; (l2) P.macintyrei.

FIGURES 121–122. Distribution maps.