Neoperla laticollis Klapálek, 1909

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 : 26

2. Neoperla laticollis Klapálek, 1909

( Figs. 4–5 , 8–10 )

Neoperla laticollis Klapálek, 1909: 218 .

Type material studied. Republic of Cameroon: ♀ Lectotype, N. Kamerun Joh.-Albrechtsĥhe [= Kumba, fide Hynes 1952: 94; ~ 4.63N, 9.44] V.96, L.Conradt S. \ laticollis Klapàlek [print] \ Cotype [print, red paper] \ Cotypus [print, white paper] \ Neoperla laticollis Klapálek, 1909 Lectotypus ♀ des. Zwick 1980 Neoperla transvaalensis (End.) det. P. Zwick 1980; 1 ♀ Paralectotype: Kamerun 8 Conradt [print, grey paper]\ Cotype [print, red paper] \ Cotypus [print, white paper] \ Neoperla laticollis Klapálek, 1909 Paralectotypus ♀ des. Zwick 1980 Neoperla transvaalensis (End.) det. P. Zwick 1980 (both pinned, with pinned plastic slide of genitalia and eggs, NMCZ). The present designations are made to stabilise nomenclature. Material of N. laticollis was first listed by Klapálek (1923b) and included 6 females. We have not seen the 4 remaining paralectotypes.

Additional material studied. Republic of Cameroon: 1♀, Kamerun 1898–1899 (Slide Z 19.111, coll. Klapálek, NMCZ) . Federal Republic of Nigeria: 1 J, 1♀, Nigeria, SE State, Obudu Cr. [6.67°N, 9.16°E, 222m], 13.4.73, Medler ( CAS) .

Habitus. WL ♁ 12.7mm, ♀ 13.7mm. Yellow , faded, the female from Cameroon (1898/99) with dark cercus .

Male ( Figs. 4–5 ). Tergites as for the group. HT10 with tongue-shaped mediobasal callus, the slender HT process gently curved. S8 unmodified, no spine-like setae.

Penis large, plump, soft, dorsally with a weak triangular sclerite, apex flat. Everted endophallus short, conical, standing at right angle to penis tube, on ventral side. The knee-like bend is covered with minute densely placed teeth, more distally the endophallus is sparsely covered with unusually large sharp-tipped hooks. Hooks are circular in cross section, more distal hooks are finer. A recurrent terminal tube was not observed.

Female ( Fig. 8 ). S8 unmodified, caudal edge straight, soft, internal structures as for the group. The large transverse folds on top of the of vagina project laterally behind the wide opening into the large SSt which is more slender than in N. transvaalensis . The backward-directed distal portion is particularly long ( Fig. 8 ).

Egg ( Figs. 9–10 ). Approximately 405 by 205µm, slender, ~12 straight ridges with a double row of exceptionally large spheres on top. The rows are shifted by half a sphere diameter relative to spheres in the other row (Figs. 9,10). The irregularly punctate operculum has a high parabolic top. Sides of egg converge towards the short contracted collar. Anchor cavity shallow, anchor mushroom-shaped.

DNA. No data.

Notes. N. laticollis was named in a key for its allegedly very wide pronotum; we observed no unusual shape. Study material was listed only in Klapálek (1923b) when he compared N. laticollis with the very different N. africana Klapálek. Neoperla laticollis is closely related to N. transvaalensis but the penes are strikingly different. Female genitalia are similar but the projecting large folds on the vagina and the more slender SSt of N. laticollis are distinctive ( Fig. 8 ). Ornaments on egg costae are arranged as typical in Neoperla but are larger than in other species. According to Klapálek (1923b) the 6 females he studied were all taken in Cameroon, 14.– 26.5.1896. An additional female in Klapálek’s collection labelled “1898–1899” has no type status.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Neoperla transvaalensis (Enderlein) (1–3) and N. laticollis Klapálek (4, 5): 1, male tergites 7–10, dorsal and lateral views; 2, penis, dorsoventral; 3, artificially everted penis, the retractor apodemes (sclerotised knob) are on the dorsal side; 4, male tergites 7–10; 5, artificially everted penis. The scales are 100µm, other figures not to scale. bs, bare strip; ce, cercus; gp, gonopore; vlb, ventrolateral spine bands.

FIGURES 6–10. Neoperla transvaalensis (Enderlein) (6, 7) and N. laticollis Klapálek (8–10): 6, female situs, specimen from Rwanda; 7, egg, semi-diagrammatic, not to scale; 8, female situs; 9, egg, lateral view; 10, enlarged detail of a costa. The scales are 100µm; a, anchor; c, collar; fo, stack of membranous folds; gp, gonopore; hk, hard knob, retractor apodeme; ls, lateral vaginal sclerite; mc, mediobasal callus of HT10, the hemitergite 10. mi, micropyle; op, operculum; sa, spermatheca; sd, spermathecal duct; S9, protruding tip of S9; sa, coiled spermatheca; V, vagina.