Miroculis (Miroculis) fazzariensis, Costa, Sabrina Santos & Mariano, Rodolfo, 2013

Costa, Sabrina Santos & Mariano, Rodolfo, 2013, Description of a new species of Miroculis Edmunds, 1963 (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 3599 (5), pp. 495-498 : 495-498

Miroculis (Miroculis) fazzariensis sp. nov.

Description. Male imago. ( Figs. 1–7 ) Maximal length: Body 4.2 – 5.1 mm; forewing 4.6 mm; hind wing 1.2 mm; subgenital plate 0.27 mm.

Head ( Fig. 7 ). Yellowish brown. Antennae: pedicel and scape brown; flagellum pale. Ocelli: white with dark brown base. Eyes: lower portion black;dorsal portion of eyes on short stalk ( Fig. 7 ), with 10–12 large–sized facets in longest row, light orangish brown; distance between upper portion of compound eyes equal to width of an upper portion ( Fig. 5 ).

Thorax ( Figs. 5–7 ). Pro, meso and metanotum chestnut. Pleura and sterna brown with margins dark brown. Wings ( Figs. 1–2 ): forewing: longitudinal and cross veins brown; membrane translucent washed with brown except for some cells on anterior and middle region; cross veins surrounded narrowly by brown pigmentation. Hind wing: longitudinal and cross veins brown; membrane translucent washed with brown, an area near costal projection unpigmented. Legs: broken off and lost.

Abdomen ( Figs. 5–6 ). General color: brown translucent. Tergum I washed with brown; terga II–III with a median brownish spot; terga IV–VIII with two posterior median brownish spots, more intense on tergum VIII; terga VIII–IX orangish brown. Sterna I–VII translucent brown, sterna VIII–IX brownish orange.

Genitalia ( Figs. 3–4 ) Length of styliger plate 0.27 mm, brown yellowish. Forceps: light brown, with a blackish spot on the outer and inner sides near the apex of the first segment; spines present from the base to the middle of forceps segment I. Penes: brown; long and slender with membranous apex. Filaments: broken off and lost.

Female imago and nymph: unknown.

Material examined. Holotype: male imago, Brazil, São Paulo State, São Carlos, campus of Universidade Federal de São Carlos – UFSCAR, Fazzari stream, 21°58' 07”S / 47°53'08”W, 16.ix.2007, collector: Roque, F. O. and Lecci, L. S. ( MZUSP). Paratypes: 4 male imagos same data as holotype (three at MZUESC and one at MZUSP).

Etymology: Fazzari is the name of the river where this species was collected.

Diagnosis. Miroculis (Miroculis) fazzariensis can be separated from other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: in the male imago: 1) the upper portion of eyes with 12 facets in the longest row; 2) forewing translucent tinged with brown, with transverse and longitudinal veins brown; 3) abdominal color pattern as in Figs. 5–6 ; 4) size of penis from 0.8 to 1.0 the size of forceps segment I.

Discussion: According to the key proposed by Dominguez et al. (2006), M. fazzariensis is directed to couplet "6" in the key, which includes M. fittkaui and M. nebulosus ; recently Salles & Lima (2011) described M. caparaoensis , directed to the same step in the key. The new species differs from M. fittkaui mainly in the wings coloration, with more pigmentation in the new species, and differs also in the shape of the penes, which are more robust in M. fittkaui . It can be separated from M. nebulosus by the size of the penes: in M. fazzariensis it is approximately the same size as the segment I of the forceps, while in M. nebulosus is up to 1.6 times the size of segment I of the forceps. Miroculis fazzariensis differs from M. caparaoensis in wings coloration, shape of forceps and size of penes. The wing of M. fazzariensis is more pigmented, especially at the apex of the forewing. The base of the first segment of the forcepsin M. fazzariensis is large and tapering gradually to the apex, while in M. caparaoensis the base is rounded; in M. caparaoensis the length of the penes is approximately 0.70 the length of segment I of the forceps, while in M. fazzariensis is approximately the same size.

Figures

FIGURE 1 – 4. Miroculis (M.) fazzariensis sp. nov. Male imago. 1. Forewing; 2. Hind wing; 3. Genitalia (ventral view); 4. Detail of penes.

FIGURE 5 – 7. Miroculis (M.) fazzariensis sp. nov. Male imago. 5. Dorsal view; 6. Lateral view; 7. Lateral view of head and thorax.