Loneura boliviana Williner, 1949

Cutrim, Marcelo, Neto, Alberto Moreira Da Silva, García Aldrete, Alfonso N. & Rafael, José Albertino, 2021, A new species of Loneura Navás and taxonomic update of L. boliviana Williner and L. meridionalis García Aldrete (Psocodea: Psocomorpha: Ptiloneuridae), Zootaxa 4969 (1), pp. 135-148 : 144-145

Loneura boliviana Williner nomen dubium

Loneura boliviana Williner, 1949: 103 , Fig. 4 .

Ptiloneura (Loneura) boliviana ; Smithers, 1967: 34 (catalog).

Loneura boliviana ; Lienhard & Smithers, 2002: 127 (catalog); Garcia Aldrete et al., 2011: 61 (infrageneric classification); Lima et al., 2019: 184 (taxonomy); Garcia Aldrete et al., 2020: 294 (taxonomy, phylogeny).

As discussed below, L. boliviana Williner (1949) has been regarded as a senior synonym of L. meridionalis . However, the available description of L. boliviana refers mainly to the head and wings, with no description of other parts of the body, particularly the genitalia that provide the most secure structures to differentiate species within the group. The described wing color pattern of L. boliviana is similar to that of L. meridionalis and, as both species are recorded from Bolivia, L. meridionalis was placed as a synonym of L. boliviana by Castro (2007), a synonymy subsequently repeated by Gonzáles Obando et al., (2020). However, according to the original descriptions of these species L. boliviana has seven and eight branches on the forewings (right and left, respectively) while L. meridionalis has six branches; on the hindwing, the first has four branches while the latter has five branches. Character states of head, body and wings used to be considered sufficient to distinguish species of Loneura , but genitalia morphology is now considered the most secure character to be used for species recognition in Ptiloneuridae genera. Unfortunately, there is no information about the genitalia of L. boliviana , and in the absence of this information this species cannot be satisfactorily distinguished. As a result, L. boliviana is here considered a nomen dubium and L. meridionalis accepted as a valid species.

The male holotype and paratype of L. boliviana were deposited originally at the Museo Entomológico del Colegio Máximo de San José, Argentina. However, the entire collection of that museum became part of the Instituto de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Salta (INESALT) (now non-existent) and was later transferred to the Universidad Nacional de Salta (UNSA). This Universidad claims that they donated the material to Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” (MACN), but the specimens never reached that Museum (Mulieri, P. in litt. 20.i.2021). As a result, it is concluded that the type material of L. boliviana is lost.

As stated above, L. boliviana cannot be unequivocally distinguished from either L. meridionalis or L. willineri n. sp., or indeed any other species of its genus, due to insufficient morphological information. The two species recognized here can be distinguished as follows:

1. Hypandrium with long lateral posterior projections, with a concavity between them, and almost elliptic side sclerites ( Figs 40 and 41 ); phallosome external parameres stout, elongate and bifurcate at base; anterior pair of endophallic sclerites with long proximal projections, a curved and non-rough base without a group of spines along outer margin; posterior pair of endophallic sclerites with a wide curved inward proximal projection ( Figs 44 and 45 ).............................. L. meridionalis

-. Hypandrium with shorter lateral posterior projections, the median concavity straight, and the side sclerites almost rectangular ( Figs 42 and 43 ); phallosome external parameres slender, elongate, and not bifurcated at base; anterior pair of endophallic sclerites with short proximal projections, a straight and rough base with a group of spines along outer margin; posterior pair of endophallic sclerites with a thin curved inward proximal projection ( Figs 46 and 47 )....................... L. willineri

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Loneura willineri n. sp. Male. 1. Front view of head. 2. Right forewing. 3. Right hindwing. 4. Lacinial tip. 5. Hypandrium. 6. Phallosome. 7. Clunium, epiproct and right paraproct. Scales in mm.

FIGURES 40–43. Comparison between the hypandrium of L. meridionalis and that of L. willineri n. sp. 40–41. L. meridionalis. 42–43. L. willineri n. sp.

FIGURES 44–47. Comparison between the phallosomes of L. meridionalis and L. willineri n. sp. 44–45. L. meridionalis. 46–47. L. willineri n. sp.