Neoperla grafei Stark &amp; Sheldon 2009, sp. n.
Creators: name: Stark, Bill P.
name: Sheldon, Andrew L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Perlidae
Neoperla
Neoperla grafei

description: <i>Neoperla grafei</i> sp. n. (Figs. 1&amp;hyphen;5) <b>Material examined.</b> Holotype &amp;male; and 2 &amp;male; paratypes from Malaysia, Sarawak, Lanjak Entiman, 1.39 <b>°</b> N, 112.16 <b>°</b> E, 23 June 2008, U. Grafe (holotype USNM, paratypes BPS). <b>Adult habitus.</b> General color pale yellow brown. Head pale except for obscure slightly darker region on frons and over ocelli (Fig. 1). Pronotum pale brown with scattered darker rugosities. Femora pale brown, tibiae similar but with dark brown band at knee. Wing membrane pale amber, veins brown. <b>Male.</b> Forewing length 9.5 mm. Process of tergum 7 subtriangular with projecting sensilla basiconica around apex and on lateral margins (Fig. 2). Median sclerite of tergum 8 slightly rounded from lateral aspect and armed with a median row, and a few scattered sensilla basiconica. Tergum 9 with a pair of low humps armed with a sparse patch of ca. 7&amp;hyphen;8 sensilla basiconica; area between humps partially sclerotized and bearing a few smaller sensilla basiconica. Hemiterga typical, anterior finger lobes slender, straight and strongly narrowed at apex. Aedeagal tube slender and sclerotized except for a partial, near apical, membranous zone armed with strong apically directed spines (Figs. 3&amp;hyphen;5); apex of tube gradually curved ventrad. Aedeagal sac about as long as tube and armed along most of dorsal margin with scattered strong spines; apex of sac with a patch of smaller, densely packed spines and ventral margin with a linear cluster of subapical spines. <b>Female.</b> Unknown. <b>Larva.</b> Unknown. <b>Etymology.</b> The patronym honors Professor Ulmar Grafe, collector of the type series, for his gracious assistance in this study. <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Neoperla grafei</i> is a member of the <i>N. parva</i> species group recognized by Zwick (1986a). It differs from other Bornean members of the complex (<i>N. edmundsi</i> Stark, <i>N. parva</i> Banks, <i>N. starki</i> Zwick) in details of aedeagal armature and tube shape. The new species is the only known member of the group with a strongly curved apex to the aedeagus, and it is also the only one to have the membranous spiny area of the tube set near the apex and extending as a partial ring across the dorsum; other species in the group have the spiny area distinctly separated into a pair of lateral patches located near midlength of the tube. This complex might be endemic to Borneo but Zwick (1986a) suggests <i>N. triangulata</i> Kawai, a Sri Lankan species, is a possible member of the group. The holotype and paratypes of this species were collected with two males each of <i>N. parva</i> and <i>N. rougemonti</i>, and several females which do not appear to be any of these species.
description: Published as part of <i>Stark, Bill P. &amp; Sheldon, Andrew L., 2009, Records Of Neoperlini (Plecoptera: Perlidae) From Brunei Darussalam And Sarawak, With Descriptions Of New Phanoperla Banks And Neoperla Needham Species, pp. 11-19 in Illiesia 5 (2)</i> on page 12, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4759022
description: {"references": ["Zwick, P. 1986 a. The Bornean species of the stonefly genus Neoperla (Plecoptera: Perlidae). Aquatic Insects, 8: 1 - 53."]}