Protoneura ailsa Donnelly, 1961

Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W., 2017, A synopsis of the Neotropical genus Protoneura (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), Zootaxa 4361 (1), pp. 1-76 : 8-10

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4361.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:53489D29-C68F-44FD-9EA2-CFCA7B949630

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6030125

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/D2332A59-FFA9-4E5E-FF5D-FB65FB2A6F3B

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Protoneura ailsa Donnelly, 1961
status

 

Protoneura ailsa Donnelly, 1961 View in CoL

Figs. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 (♂ habitus), 25 (♀ habitus), 47 (♀ mes. plate), 71 (gen. lig.), 97 (♂ app), 120 (map)

Protoneura ailsa Donnelly, 1961: 119 View in CoL –121, Figs. 1–7 View FIGURES 1–4 View FIGURES 5–8 (description of ♂ and ♀, illustrations of body, wings, ♂ S10 and ♀ mesostigmal plates);— Donnelly (1970: 15–17, Figs. 21–24 View FIGURES 21–24 ; description of last stadium larva from Dominica);— Paulson (1982: 260; Lesser Antillies);— Meurgey (2005: 35–37, 40, 42, 45, 56, 58, 63–64, 66, 71, 78; Martinique);— Meurgey (2006a: 16; French West Indies);— Meurgey (2006b: 372, Figs. 7–9 View FIGURES 5–8 View FIGURES 9–12 ; diagnosis from P. romanae View in CoL , illustrations of ♂ S10 and ♀ mesostigmal plates);—Meurgey et al. (2006: 17, 32, 135, Figs. 3 View FIGURES 1–4 , 15 View FIGURES 13–16 ; Martinique, illustration wing, color photo);— Meurgey (2008: 279–282; redescription of larva and biology);—Meurgey et al. (2008: 15, 16; Martinique, note on habitat);— Garrison et al. (2010: 379);— Meurgey & Picard (2011: 229–231; color photos in life, characterization, habitat, biology, distribution);— Meurgey & Poiron (2012: 310; Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia); Meurgey (2013: 302, 305, 326; distribution).

Primary types. Holotype ♂: Saint Lucia: Castries Quarter, upper Cul de Sac River near Bexon {13°55'S, 60°58'W}, 7 ix 1957, A. & T.W. Donnelly leg. [ FSCA]. GoogleMaps

Specimens examined. 69 ♂ 13 ♀: DOMINICA, St. Andrew Parish : 1 ♂, Clarke Hall {15°33' N, 61°18' W}, 31 v 1966, G. Steyskal leg. [USNM]; 1 ♂, trail up Mannet Gutter near Clarke Hall, 5 iv 1964, O.S. Flint leg. [USNM]; 1 ♀, wooded trail above Clarke Hall, 4 iv 1964, O.S. Flint, leg. [ USNM]; St. Joseph Parish : 2 ♂, Cafe, across river from Clarke Hall, 6 vi 1964, T.W. Donnelly leg. [RWG]; 2 ♂, same data but [ FSCA] ; 26 ♂ 2 ♀ (one pair in copula), same data but 8 vi 1964, O.S. Flint leg. [ USNM] ; 1 ♂, Dlean Morne Laurent, in pools, 1 iii 1964, H.H. Hobbs Jr. leg. [ USNM]; St. Paul Parish : 1 ♂, 1.3 mi E of Pont Casse {15°22' N, 61°20' W, 595 m}, 1 vi 1964, T.W. Donnelly leg. [ FSCA] GoogleMaps ; 6 ♂, same data but 22 v 1964, O.S. Flint leg. [ USNM] GoogleMaps ; 5 ♂, Mannett Gutter, 11 iv 1964, O.S. Flint leg. [USNM]; 10 ♂ 1 ♀ (one pair in tandem), same data but 1 v 1964 [ USNM]. MARTINIQUE GoogleMaps : 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Le Precheur, Trace du Precheur, at parking lot (14°50' N, 61°12' W, 354 m), 18 iii 2008, F. Meurgey leg. [RWG]; 2 ♂ 2 ♀, Saint Joseph, Bahuau, Riviere Lozarde (14°41'26'' N, 61°3'30'' W, 278 m), 2 iii 2005, F. Meurgey leg. [RWG] GoogleMaps ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Trois-Ilets, Anse Mitan, Golf de Trois-Ilets (14°32'18'' N, 61°2'13'' W, 25 m), F. Meurgey leg. [RWG]. ST. LUCIA, Dauphin Quarter GoogleMaps : 2 ♂ 1 ♀, 1.5 mi W of Marquis   GoogleMaps (13°59' N, 60°55' W, 31 vii 1963, O.S. Flint leg. [ USNM]; Anse La Raye Quarter: 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), Millet Reservoir, SE of Roseau (13°54'5'' N, 60°59'17'' W, 90 m), 20 v 2009, F.C. Sibley leg. [ FSCA] GoogleMaps ; 3 ♂, same data but [RWG]; Micoud Quarter: 1 m #, 5 mi W of Micoud , Des Cartier Nature Trail (13°50'14'' N, 60°58'34'' W, 347 m), 21 v 2009, A.C. Cline leg. [RWG]; Soufriere Quarter GoogleMaps : 5 ♂ 2 ♀, Gros Piton trailhead, L'Ivrogne River (13°48'29'' N, 61°3'33'' W, 210 m), 14 v 2009, F.C. Sibley leg. [RWG] GoogleMaps ; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [ FSCA]. GoogleMaps

Characterization. Male: Epicranium, thorax and abdomen brownish black with metallic green to copper reflections; pale colors orange to yellow ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ). Pronotum anterior lobe entirely pale, middle lobe dark, and posterior lobe dark with lateral corners pale. Mesepisternum entirely dark, lacking pale middorsal and antehumeral stripes; remainder of pterothorax pale. Legs yellow, with extensor surface and distal end of femur brownish, and one to three diffuse brownish rings on tibia; tibial spurs shorter than twice intervening spaces. Genital ligula lacking lateral lobes and with distal margin slightly concave, with laterodistal corners projected ventrally ( Fig. 71 View FIGURES 71–78 ). Cercus shorter than S10 length, about half as long as paraproct, about as long as wide, with a depression on external surface, dorsal margin convex and ventral margin slightly concave in lateral view ( Fig. 97a View FIGURES 97–99 ), with a pointed ventrobasal tooth and two dorsal teeth, an apical one on distal margin and a subapical one on medial surface, visible in dorsal and mediodorsal views ( Figs. 97b, c View FIGURES 97–99 ). Paraproct longer than S10 length, approximately cylindrical ( Fig. 97 View FIGURES 97–99 ). TL 36–41; Hw 17.5–19.

Female: As male but pronotum anterior lobe with anterior margin dark, middle lobe pale, and posterior lobe pale with only posterior margin dark; pale lateral area of S9 extended dorsally medially to about 2/3 of segment height ( Fig. 25 View FIGURES25–28 ). Middle lobe of pronotum lacking pronounced lateral depressions; posterior lobe entire, smoothly convex and directed dorsally. Mesostigmal plate approximately triangular with medial margin upright and with a central concavity; mesanepisterum forming two adjacent cylindrical tubercles lying parallel to each other between posteromedial sides of mesostigmal plates ( Fig. 47 View FIGURES 47–50 ).

TL 36–39; Hw 20.2–21.

Diagnosis. Protoneura ailsa and P. romanae are the only two species with dark color on pterothorax limited to mesepisternum ( Figs. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ; 16; 25; 40); in all other species there are some dark areas or stripes on other sclerites of pterothorax ( Figs. 2–15 View FIGURES 1–4 View FIGURES 5–8 View FIGURES 9–12 View FIGURES 13–16 ; 17–24; 26–39; 41–46). They also share a similar morphology of genital ligula ( Figs. 71 View FIGURES 71–78 ; 86), male appendages ( Figs. 97 View FIGURES 97–99 ; 112), and female mesostigmal plates. Male of P. ailsa differs by paraproct about twice as long as cercus ( Fig. 97a View FIGURES 97–99 ; clearly shorter than twice length of cercus in P. romanae , Fig. 112a View FIGURES 112–114 ), and cercus apical tooth as long as subapical tooth ( Fig. 97c View FIGURES 97–99 ; much longer than subapical tooth located at about midlength of cercus and not distally in P. romanae , Fig. 112c View FIGURES 112–114 ). Female differs by dorsum of middle lobe of pronotum pale ( Fig. 25 View FIGURES25–28 ; dark in P. romanae , Fig. 40 View FIGURES 37–40 ).

Habitat and biology. Protoneura ailsa was first discovered on a narrow stream in St. Lucia, with alternating areas of riffles and pools, bottom of gravel and sand and some emergent vegetation ( Donnelly 1961). The species occurs on small vegetated streams of sandy to rocky bottoms at 45–600 m elevation in Dominica ( Donnelly 1970; Meurgey 2008) and commonly between sea level and 400 m a.s.l. in Martinique ( Meurgey 2005), from mountain streams to small rivers in sugar cane plantations, but is absent from mangroves and flooded forests (Meurgey et al. 2008). Donnelly (1970) and Meurgey (2008) described its last larval stadium. According to Meurgey (2008), adults of this moist montane or transition forest species hang vertically on small branches or fly in shaded and heavily vegetated areas along the banks of streams and small rivers, or in nearby forested areas. They feed on small insects caught at slow areas of basins and pools. Mating takes place in the vegetation along the banks, and tandem pairs fly to a suitable oviposition site, where females lay eggs (usually still in tandem, rarely alone) in leaves, stream debris, mosses or stems of aquatic plants or roots in slow or standing waters of pools, basins, ditches or dams. Larvae emerge clinging vertically on shaded areas near the water surface (Meurgey 2008).

Distribution. Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia in the Lesser Antilles ( Fig. 120 View FIGURES 119–120 ).

FSCA

Florida State Collection of Arthropods, The Museum of Entomology

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Odonata

Family

Protoneuridae

Genus

Protoneura

Loc

Protoneura ailsa Donnelly, 1961

Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W. 2017
2017
Loc

Protoneura ailsa

Garrison 2010: 379
Donnelly 1961: 119
1961
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