Neoperla coffea, Zwick & Zwick, 2023

Zwick, Peter & Zwick, Andreas, 2023, Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data, Zootaxa 5316 (1), pp. 1-194 : 44-46

15. Neoperla coffea n. sp.

( Figs. 74–75 )

Type material studied: Republic of Cameroon, ♀ Holotype: 5°1'17.65''N, 9°46'10.39''E, Cameroon , SW-Reg., 7km S Bangem, Ebonmin, coffee plantation, 1470m asl, 29 Oct 2011, MV-lamp, A.Zwick ( NEOP046 ; SMNS).

Habitus. WL 15.1 mm. Yellow, a black spot with short tip across the ocelli. Pronotum greyish. Palpi and antenna black, base of scape with a pale spot. Legs light, tibiae and tarsi infuscate. Cercus yellow (distal half missing). Front wings grey, veins brown, costal space yellow.

Male. Unknown.

Female ( Fig. 74 ). S8 unmodified. Vagina about as long as S8, numerous transverse folds in anterior part, in basal half only lateral wrinkles. SSt short, a wide curved half-tube with some longitudinal folds, inside with dense cover of slender flat pale scales. Receptacle damaged, apparently curled.

Egg ( Fig. 75 ). 344*257 µm, plump, drop-shaped, the rounded operculum is wide, the anchor pole narrow. No striae, surface finely and irregularly punctate, chorion at equator thicker than near poles. Brown, a pale line of varying width marks the eclosion line. In optical sections it seems to interrupt the chorion and leave only membranous connections between the hard edges. Micropyles unmodified, much larger than the fine surface punctures which in optical section resemble tiny radial lines not attaining the smooth inner face of the eggshell. No collar, anchor cavity with narrow opening but widening inside the egg, anchor mushroom-shaped.

DNA ( Figs. 491–493 ). Only the female holotype from Cameroon was sequenced with the genome-skimming approach, obtaining 11,001bp of mitochondrial, protein-coding genes. Its placement as sister to N. pickeri n. sp. is well supported (46.6/97/100) .

Notes. Female genitalia and the egg of N. coffea are unique. Several Philippine females in the N. montivagagroup also have eggs with a pale eclosion line ( Sivec 1984).

Etymology. The female holotype was taken in a coffee plantation, the scientific name of the plant was chosen as name of the insect. A noun in apposition.

Figures

FIGURE 491. Codon-model maximum likelihood phylogram based on 83 largely complete mitochondrial genome sequences only (mt-NT). Statistical support values (SH-aLRT, UFBoot) from this and other analyses summarised by squares as explained in the figure. Terminal labels include information on the species, type status, gender, originating country, unique sequence identifier (NEOP###), sequencing approach and total basepairs of 13 mitochondrial, protein-coding genes. Clades of particular interest highlighted with colours that correspond to the clades in other trees. HT = holotype; PT = paratype; PCR = Polymerase Chaine Reaction; WGS = Whole Genome Shotgun.

FIGURE 492. Simplified overview of codon-model maximum likelihood phylogram based on 356 mitochondrial genome and COX1 DNA barcode sequences (all-NT). Terminal labels include information on the species only. Clades of particular interest highlighted with colours that correspond to the clades in other trees. The full tree is shown in Figs 493-498.

FIGURE 493. Partial (outgroup, clades A, B, D) codon-model maximum likelihood phylogram based on 356 mitochondrial genome and COX1 DNA barcode sequences (all-NT). Statistical support values above branches or near nodes are SH-aLRT and UFBoot for the codon-model analyses, followed by NT123 UFBoot. Terminal labels include information on the species, type status, gender, originating country, unique sequence identifier (NEOP###), sequencing approach and total basepairs of 13 mitochondrial, protein-coding genes. Clades of particular interest highlighted with colours that correspond to the clades in other trees. See Fig. 492 for an overview. HT = holotype; PT = paratype; PCR = Polymerase Chaine Reaction; WGS = Whole Genome Shotgun.

FIGURES 69–75. Neoperla pickeri n. sp. and N. coffea n. sp., female holotypes. N. pickeri: 69, genital situs; the vagina is transparent and the coiled spermatheca is visible only as a faint shadow, lines indicate location of enlarged details (not to scale); 70, lateral view of an egg; 71, diagram of chorion structure 72, fragment with collar and stem of anchor, in polar view; 73, fragment of the deeply reticulate operculum. N. coffea: 74, genital situs, transverse lines mark borders between sternites 7 and 8, and 8 and 9, respectively; 75, egg. Scales are 100µm. co, costa; mi, micropyle; mic, micropylar canal; od, oviduct; sa spermatheca, SSt spermathecal stalk; su, sulcus; V, vagina.