Allocapnia muskogee Grubbs &amp; Sheldon 2008, sp. n.
Creators: name: Grubbs, Scott A.
name: Sheldon, Andrew L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Capniidae
Allocapnia
Allocapnia muskogee

description: <i>Allocapnia muskogee</i> sp. n. (Figs. 1-8) <b>Material examined.</b> Holotype &amp;male; and paratype &amp;female;, U.S.A., Alabama, Cleburne Co., unnamed tributary to Swan Branch, Shinnabone Creek, Talladega National Forest, 24 km SW Heflin, 28 December 2007, S.A. Grubbs (INHS). Additional paratypes: same but 9 &amp;male;, 4 &amp;female; (WKU); same but 17 February 2003, 1 &amp;male;, S.A. Grubbs (WKU). Clay Co., unnamed tributary to Cheaha Creek, Talladega National Forest, 19 km N Ashland, 33.4397°N, 085.8387°W, 4 December 2006, 1 &amp;male;, A.L. Sheldon (WKU). Cleburne Co., unnamed tributary to South Fork Terrapin Creek, Talladega National Forest, 33.8220°N, 085.5148°W, 22 December 2007, 2 &amp;male;, A.L. Sheldon (WKU); unnamed tributary to unnamed tributary to South Fork Terrapin Creek, Talladega National Forest, 4 km S Vigo, 33.8865°N, 085.5559°W, 26 January 2008, 2 &amp;male;, 2 &amp;female;, S.A. Grubbs (WKU). Georgia, Lumpkin Co., fast stream, 12 mi NW Cleveland, 30 December 1964, 1 &amp;male;, Hensley and Smith (INHS, Catalog No. 11964). <b>Male.</b> Body length 3.5–5.0 mm. Wings reaching 6 th to the 9 th abdominal terga. Seventh abdominal terga unmodified. Dorsal process of 8 th terga markedly produced, nearly perpendicular to the plane of the abdomen (Figs 1–2); process with tuberculate transverse ridge that is partially (Figs. 3–4) to nearly completely separated medially (Fig. 5), with lobes that appear subtriangular in dorsal aspect (Figs. 3, 5) to subtruncate in anterodorsal aspects (Fig. 4). Apical limb of epiproct 2X length of basal limb, moderately and roundly expanded distal half laterally (Fig. 1), nearly parallel-sided and unmodified dorsally (Figs. 6–7). <b>Female.</b> Body length 4.0–5.5 mm. Wings reaching 7 th terga to beyond tip of abdomen. Eighth abdominal sterna darkly sclerotized medially, only slightly sclerotized laterally, terminating in triangular projection posteriorly; separated from 7 th sterna by membrane (Fig. 8). <b>Etymology.</b> The specific name, used as a noun in apposition, is in reference to the indigenous Muskogee, or Creek, Native Americans who occupied the upper Coosa and Tallapoosa River valleys flanking the Talladega National Forest area prior to European settlement. The common name, Muskogee snowfly, is proposed for this species (Stark et al. 1998) <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Allocapnia muskogee</i> is most similar to <i>A. wrayi</i> Ross and <i>A. mystica</i> Frison, the only two members of the <i>A. mystica</i> species group (Ross &amp; Ricker 1971). <i>Allocapnia zekia</i> was described by Ross (1964) as a possible local variant of <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> and also placed in the <i>A. mystica</i> group (Ricker &amp; Ross 1971), but was subsequently synonymyzed with <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> by Kondratieff &amp; Kirchner (1982). <i>Allocapnia muskogee</i> is included in the <i>A. mystica</i> group. <i>Allocapnia muskogee</i> is distinguished from the other two members of this group most easily by details of the epiproct, in both lateral and dorsal aspects. The ratio of the apical limb length to the basal limb length varies across the <i>A. mystica</i> group. The apical limb of <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> is markedly shorter than the basal limb, approximately 0.75X the length (Figs. 17–18). In contrast, the apical limb of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> is 2X the length of the basal segment (Fig. 1) and 1X – 1.5X for <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> (Figs. 9–10). Kondratieff &amp; Kirchner (1982) illustrated the variability of the epiproct for Maryland and Virginia specimens of <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i>, depicting apical to basal limb ratios of 1.5X (their Fig. 1) and 1X (their Fig. 2), which is similar to the 1.5X ratio shown here for two separate series of specimens from western Maryland (Figs. 9–10). Additional specimens of <i>A. wrayi</i> examined from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina pertain easily to this concept. In lateral aspect the apical epiproct limb of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> is rounded distally (Figs. 1), and differentiated easily from both <i>A. wrayi</i> and <i>A. mystica</i>. For <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> the distal end of the epiproct is truncate with a raised mid-dorsal keel (Figs. 9–10, 13– 15), while the apical half of the epiproct of <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> bears a subdistal notch ventrally (Figs. 17–18). When viewed dorsally the epiproct apical limb of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> is parallel- or nearly parallel-sided and broadly rounded distally (Figs. 6–7). In contrast, the epiproct apical limb of <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> is spatulate (Figs. 13– 15) and for <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> the epiproct apical limb tapers markedly distally. The dorsal process of the 8 th abdominal terga of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i>, <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i>, and <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> are similar and provide a less objective means of differentiating between species. The dorsal process lobes of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> vary from subtriangular to truncate (Figs. 3–5) while the lobes are more rounded for both <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> (Figs. 11–12) and <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> (Figs. 19–20). Females of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> can be distinguished from <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> by the posterior triangular projection of the 8 th abdominal sterna (Fig. 8). <i>Allocapnia mystica</i> bears a broadly rounded posterior margin (Fig. 24) while the posterior margin of <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i> varies from broadly rounded to slightly subtriangular (Fig. 16). Ross &amp; Ricker (1971) did not distinguish the females of <i>A</i>. <i>mystica</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>wrayi</i>. Although <i>A. mystica</i> is distributed broadly across the unglaciated landscape east of the Mississippi River (Kondratieff &amp; Baumann 2000; Stark et al. 2008) and is common throughout Alabama (James 1972), it is not a resident of upland or montane streams in the Talladega National Forest area. <i>Allocapnia wrayi</i> is regionally distributed in small, upland streams from southern Pennsylvania south to northwestern South Carolina, and has yet to be collected west of the Appalachian Mountains (Ross &amp; Ricker 1971; Kondratieff &amp; Baumann 2000; Stark et al., 2008). The single male specimen of <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i> from northern Georgia currently represents the northern end of its range. <b>Remarks.</b> The type locality is a small, intermittent stream situated within a broad, flat valley. The only other stonefly species collected with <i>A</i>. <i>muskogee</i>, and only from the tributary to Cheaha Creek site, were <i>A</i>. <i>aurora</i> Ricker, <i>A. menawa</i> n.sp., and <i>A</i>. <i>recta</i> (Claassen).
description: Published as part of <i>Grubbs, Scott A. &amp; Sheldon, Andrew L., 2008, Allocapnia Muskogee And A. Menawa, New Species Of Snowflies (Plecoptera: Capniidae) From The Talladega National Forest Region Of Eastern Alabama, U. S. A., Plus Four New State Records, pp. 99-109 in Illiesia 4 (11)</i> on pages 99-104, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4758774
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