Protoneura caligata
Creators: name: Ellenrieder, Natalia Von
name: Garrison, Rosser W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Protoneuridae
Protoneura
Protoneura caligata

description: Protoneura caligata (Hagen in Selys, 1886)
Figs. 4 (♂ habitus), 28 (♀ habitus), 50 (♀ mes. plate), 74 (gen. lig.), 100 (♂ app.), 119 (map)
Microneura caligata Hagen in Selys, 1886: 206, 207 (description of ♂ from Cuba);— Calvert (1919: 349; Gundlach record);— Westfall (1964a: 67, 68, 73–78, Figs. 1A–D, 2; Cuba, redescription of adults and description of larva, illustrations of ♂ S10, ♀ mesostigmal plates, and larval habitus, prementum, and caudal lamella, notes on behavior);— Alayo (1968a, b: 76, 77, Figs. 28A, 42N, 42O; records, illustrations of ♂ wings and S10);— Paulson (1982: 260; Cuba);— Trapero-Quintana & Naranjo-López (2003: 26; Cuba);— Paulson (2004: 176; listed as range restricted);—Paulson & von Ellenrieder (2006; IUCN red list status);— Westfall & May (2006: 418–421, Figs. 211–214; characterization, figures from Westfall 1964a);— Pessacq (2008: 521, 524, 526, 527; in phylogenetic analysis);— Trapero-Quintana & Torres-Cambas (2008: 26; Cuba);— Garrison et al. (2010: 366–368, Figs. 2424–2436; comparison with other New World protoneurids, illustrations of antennifer, ♀ pronotum and mesostigmal plates and S10, ♂ femur, tibia, wings, genital ligula, and S10);— Ramos & Rodríguez (2012: 408);— Meurgey (2013: 300, 305; distribution);— Torres-Cambas et al. (2015: 2–5, 8, 12; distribution, evaluation of threatened status).
Protoneura caligata — Gundlach (1888: 219; Cuba, description of color pattern of ♂);— Lorenzo-Carballa et al. (2016: 13–22, Figs. 3, 4; generic transfer based on molecular analysis, behavioral notes, pictures of habitat, emergence, and oviposition).
Primary types. Holotype ♂: Cuba [RBINS, ex collection Guérin-Méneville].
Specimens examined. 4 ♂ 4 ♀: CUBA, Sancti Spiritus Prov.: 3 ♂ 3 ♀, Trinidad Mountains near Trinidad, small stream 7 mi N of Cienfuegos-Trinidad road {21°55' N, 80°1' W, 700 m}, 5–8 vi 1959, M.J. Westfall, Jr. leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [RWG].
Characterization. Male: Epicranium and thorax, dorsum of S1–2, 10, distal portion of S3, and most of S4–9 black; pale colors reddish orange, pale blue and yellow (Fig. 4). Pronotum anterior lobe black with lateral orange spots, middle lobe with dorsum orange, and posterior lobe entirely orange. Mesepisternum black with a narrow orange antehumeral stripe along basal 4/5 of sclerite; mesepimeron black with narrow orange stripe along distal 2/ 3 of mesepisternal-mesepimeral suture; metepisternum black with posterior half along basal 2/3 pale yellow; metepimeron pale yellow with anterobasal and anterodistal corners black. Coxa, trochanter, and basal half of outer surface of femur red, distal half of femur covered in bluish-white pruinescence; tibial spurs as long as or longer than twice intervening spaces. Genital ligula lacking lateral lobes and with a straight distal margin, with laterodistal corners of distal segment projected ventrally (Fig. 74). Cercus shorter than S10 length, slightly shorter than paraproct, longer than wide in lateral view, with a longitudinal split along dorsal portion of external surface, delimiting a medial sclerotized branch which ends on a thick blunt tooth directed medioventrally (Fig. 100); remainder of cercus foliaceous, medially concave, with a small triangular tooth at ventrobasal edge, and a long, curved thick pointed tooth at mediobasal edge directed medioposteriorly. Paraproct longer than S10 length, at midlength narrowing to half its basal width and with tip concave medially (Fig. 100). TL 40.5–43; Hw 20.5–21.
Female: As male but pale areas orange to yellow; dorsum of abdomen black except base of S3–7; middle lobe of pronotum black with yellow restricted to a lateral spot; posterior lobe of pronotum black with lateral margins only yellow; antehumeral stripe along basal 1/2 of sclerite; orange stripe along distal 1/2 of mesepisternalmesepimeral suture; legs with coxae, trochanters, and flexor surface of femora yellow; pruinescence present along sides and venter of thorax; pale lateral area of S9 extended dorsally medially to about 1/3 of segment height. Middle lobe of pronotum lacking pronounced lateral depressions; posterior lobe directed anterodorsally, lying over middle lobe of pronotum, trilobed with medial lobe constricted at base and cleft with distal corners divergent (Figs. 50a, c). Mesostigmal plate enlarged and expanded into a flat foliaceous plate directed dorsally, with posterior surface concave (Figs. 50b, d). TL 37–38.5; Hw 23–23.5.
Diagnosis. Tibial spurs as long as or longer than twice intervening spaces are unique for this species within Protoneura. Male cercus morphology, with a medial sclerotized branch which ends on a tooth directed medioventrally and remainder of cercus foliaceous, medially concave, with a small triangular tooth on outer ventrobasal edge, and a long, curved thick pointed tooth at medial ventrobasal edge directed medially (Fig. 100), is shared with P. capillaris, P. dunklei, P. sanguinipes, and P. viridis (Figs. 102; 106; 113; 117). Within this group, P. caligata resembles P. capillaris and P. viridis by the medial sclerotized branch of male cercus ending on a tooth directed medioventrally located at cercus tip (Figs. 100; 102; 117) and by distal margin of genital ligula straight with laterodistal corners projected ventrally (Figs. 74; 76; 93); in P. dunklei and P. sanguinipes the medial branch ends on a broad triangular tip located at about midlength of cercus (Figs. 106; 113), and distal margin of genital ligula is convex triangular with laterodistal corners not projected ventrally (Figs. 80; 87). Protoneura caligata differs from males of all four species by the bright red-orange dorsum of pronotum middle lobe, posterior lobe, and antehumeral stripe (Fig. 4), which are entirely (Figs. 10; 17) or almost entirely (Figs. 6; 21) dark in the other four species, and by cercus shorter than paraproct and S10 (Fig. 100), vs. cercus as long or longer than paraproct and S10 (Figs. 102; 106; 113; 117). Female can be distinguished from all congeners by its trilobed posterior lobe of pronotum directed anteriorly and with medial lobe constricted and cleft (Fig. 50); P. dunklei, P.sanguinipes, P. peramans, and P.rojiza also have a trilobed posterior lobe of pronotum directed anteriorly, but the medial lobe is entire in the first two (Fig. 63a), and bilobed but broad with smoothly convex sides in the latter two (Fig. 60b).
Habitat and biology. The habitat has been described as cold, deeply shaded mountain forest streams (Westfall 1964a) with bed formed by sand, gravel and boulders and with pools and rapids through the water course (Lorenzo- Carballa et al. 2016). Westfall (1964a) described oviposition as occurring in tandem in moss on rocks just below the water surface. Lorenzo-Carballa et al. (2016) reported that during oviposition in tandem, the male remains in a vertical position with wings motionless or settles on the oviposition substratum, which includes stems of Cyperus sp., Hedychium coronarium and submerged stems of Mikania micrantha. They also observed females ovipositing alone and occasionally submerged, either in tandem with the male or alone, and events of group oviposition with several tandem pairs ovipositing on the same substratum. The larva was described by Westfall (1964a).
Distribution. Endemic to Cuba (Fig. 119), where according to Torres-Cambas et al. (2015) it is now restricted to the Guamuhaya Mountains in central Cuba. Older populations from Valle de Trinidad and Júcaro in the plains (Gundlach 1888; Westfall 1964a) are probably extinct, as most of the plains have been deforested and transformed into sugar cane plantations or pasturelands (Torres-Cambas et al. 2015). Assessed as Endangered by IUCN (Paulson & von Ellenrieder 2006).
description: Published as part of Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W., 2017, A synopsis of the Neotropical genus Protoneura (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), pp. 1-76 in Zootaxa 4361 (1) on pages 15-16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4361.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1069337