Rhopalopsole sapa Stark & Sivec, 2012

Stark, Bill P., Sivec, Ignac & Shimizu, Takao, 2012, Notes On Rhopalopsole Klapálek (Plecoptera: Leuctridae), With Descriptions Of Three New Species From Vietnam, Illiesia 8 (13), pp. 134-140 : 137

Rhopalopsole sapa Stark & Sivec sp. n.

( Figs. 8-11 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂ and ♀ paratype, Vietnam, Lao Cai, Sapa, large waterfall on road from Sapa to Lai Chau , 7 May 1995, ROM 956015 , D.C. Currie, B. Hubley, J. Swann ( ROM).

Male. General color in alcohol brown. Head and legs without distinctive pattern, wings pale brown with darker veins. Forewing length 6.0 mm. Vesicle typical of genus, rounded apically and attached to anterior margin of sternum 9 by a narrow pedicel ( Fig. 9 ). Posterior margin of sternum 9 thickened, darkly sclerotized and slightly produced as a pair of narrowly separated lobes ( Fig. 8 ). Tergum 10 with mesal sclerite half rounded and offset from adjacent sclerites by narrow membranous strips. Posterolateral margins of tergum 10 bearing on each side a prominent blade-like process with truncate apex ( Figs. 8-10 ). Epiproct curved forward over tergum 10, apex rounded. Cerci curved upwards in lateral aspect, subcylindrical, slightly swollen apically and without apical spine ( Fig. 10 ). Paraprocts fused into a complexly folded, apically swollen structure with fine striations on surface ( Figs. 8-10 ); apex broadly triangular without notch.

Putative Female. General habitus similar to male. Forewing length 7.0 mm. Sternum 7 prolonged as a narrow, triangular point extending over base of sternum 8. Sclerite on sternum 8 constricted mesally and shaped somewhat like an hour-glass ( Fig. 11 ).

Larva. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name, used as a noun in apposition, is based on the type locality.

Diagnosis. Males share the modified posterior margin of tergum 9 with several other species, including R. gladifera Zwick 1977 and R. emishan Sivec & Harper 2008 in Sivec et al. 2008, although in R. sapa these structures appear thicker. In addition, R. sapa is the only known species in which the posterolateral processes of tergum 10 have truncate tips and are thin and blade-like.

The female association is based on co-occurrence of male and female at the same site. The subgenital plate outline is generally similar to that of two Japanese species ( R. bulbifera Sivec & Shimizu 2008 in Sivec et al. 2008, and R. ebinokogen Sivec & Shimizu 2008 in Sivec et al. 2008), but the relatively wide, mesally constricted sclerite on sternum 8 is typical of R. sapa . The species is an apparent member of the “ magnicerca group” recognized by Sivec et al. (2008).

Figures

Figs. 8-11. Rhopalopsole sapa structures. 8. Male terminalia, dorsal. 9. Male terminalia, ventral. 10. Male terminalia, lateral. 11. Female terminalia, ventral.