Coeliccia caerulea Kompier & Dow & Steinhoff 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kompier, Tom
name: Dow, Rory A.
name: Steinhoff, Philip O. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Platycnemididae
Coeliccia
Coeliccia caerulea

description: 1. Coeliccia caerulea sp. nov.
(Figs 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, 7 a–b, 8e–f, 11g–h, 15a–b, 21d, 22f, 24a–b, 26a–c)
Holotype. ♂, Bao Loc, Lam Dong Prov. (appr. 11.449N, 107.712E; alt. 700 m asl.), 13 vi 2016, TK leg.
Paratypes. 2 ♂♂, same date, location and collector as holotype; 1 ♀, same location and collector as holotype, 16 vi 2016.
Etymology. The adjective caerulea means blue in Latin and refers to the blue markings of the thorax of the species.
Description of holotype (Figs 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, 7 a–b, 8e–f). Head (Fig. 1a). Labrum and postclypeus shiny black. Anteclypeus cream bluish-white, with two vaguely darker areas left and right on lower half. Genae and base of mandibles whitish, the white narrowly extending inward over the antefrons above the postclypeus, but not connecting, remainder of frons matte black. Dorsal surface of head matte black, apart from two small white spots between base of antennae and lateral ocelli and two oblong white postocular spots. Antennae black, top of first segment and base of second white. Compound eyes three-colored in life, very dark chestnut above, green below, shading to blue posteriorly.
Thorax (Figs 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a). Prothorax: pronotum matte black, propleuron whitish. Synthorax: mesepisternum black with distinct, slightly curved, blue antehumeral stripe following mesopleural suture from mesinfraepisternum to two-thirds length (Fig. 5a). Mesepimeron and mesinfraepisternum black. Metepimeron and metepisternum blue with black stripe along entire metapleural suture and black adjacent to wing bases (Fig. 4a). Metinfraepisternum white, with thin black line adjacent to metepisternum. Legs: coxae and trochanters white. Femur and tibia pale grayish with black lines. Spines and claws brownish grey.
Wings. Hyaline, 17 Px in FW, 16 in HW. Pt brown, covering 1–1.5 cells.
Abdomen. S1–2 black dorsally, white ventrally; S3–7 black dorsally and white ventrally, with subapical white annulus; S8 black dorsally, narrowly white ventrally; S9 black; S10 black, but white on dorsum with small irregular black dorsal marking apically (Fig. 7 a–b).
Anal appendages (Fig. 8 e–f). White. In lateral view (Fig. 8e) the cerci twice as thick as and distinctly shorter than paraprocts (about four-fifths of their length). Cerci with apex smoothly rounded and a ventral expansion, tipped with a black tooth, at three quarters of their length, also expanded on inner margin in this position in dorsal view (Fig. 8f). No basal interior tooth visible. The paraprocts of usual type, apically curved inwards and with black tooth at apex.
Genital ligula (as in Fig. 11 g–h, which shows a paratype). The terminal segment of the genital ligula with two apico-lateral flagella, originating laterally and angled backwards for apical half, and with an apical flap, covering the apical third of the segment, and becoming progressively broader towards its distal margin.
Measurements (in mm). HW 26; abdomen incl. appendages 41.
Variation in paratype males. Middle pronotal lobe varies from completely black to adorned with a pair of round white spots. Dorsum of S10 almost entirely black in one. 17–18 Px in FW, 16–17 in HW. Abdomen incl. appendages 38 mm.
Description of female paratype (Figs 3f, 5b, 15, 16d, 17f, 21d, 22f, 24b, 26c). Head (Fig. 15a). Labrum and postclypeus shiny black.Anteclypeus pale yellow, with two dark brown spots left and right on lower half. Genae and base of mandibles greenish yellow, this color continuing over the antefrons above the postclypeus about one-fourth inward, remainder of frons matte black. Dorsal surface of head matte black, apart from two irregular yellow lines from the edge of the compound eyes to the front of the lateral ocelli and continuing to the anterior ocellus, and two oblong greenish yellow postocular spots. Antennae black with top of first segment and base of second segment pale grey. Compound eyes in life blackish brown dorsally, green ventrally, shading to blue posteriorly.
Thorax (Figs 3f, 15b, 21d, 24b). Prothorax: black, middle pronotal lobe with a rounded yellow spot laterally and propleuron yellow. Central part of posterior pronotal lobe semi-circular, not raised, broader at base than it is long, and two distinct lapels (Figs 3f, 15b, 21d). Synthorax: mesepisternum black, with a distinct yellowish blue antehumeral stripe along almost the complete length (Fig. 23b). Mesepimeron black, lower one-fourth bluish yellow and mesinfraepisternum black with some yellow bordering coxa. Metepisternum bluish yellow, narrowly black along wing base, and with distinct black line over metapleural suture. Metepimeron and metinfraepisternum green- ish yellow. Legs: Coxae and trochanters whitish yellow. Femur and tibia grey with black lines. Claws and spines dark grey.
Wings. Hyaline, 19 Px in FW, 18 in HW. Pt brown, covering 1.5 cells.
Abdomen (Figs 22f, 26c). S1 yellow with posterior margin and dorsum narrowly black; S2 black dorsally and yellow ventrally, with apical black ring; S3 blackish brown dorsally and white ventrally, with a subbasal annulus; S4–7 blackish brown dorsally and whitish ventrally, with increasingly prominent subapical whitish annulus interrupted dorsally; S8 blackish brown on anterior two-thirds of dorsum, remainder yellowish white; S9–10 blackish brown, S9 with narrow pale dorsal line from anterior margin to about two-thirds of its length.
Anal appendages (Fig. 22f). Cerci blackish brown, half as long as S10, ovipositor blackish brown, extending almost the length of S10 beyond cerci.
Measurements (in mm). HW 26; abdomen incl. appendages 37.
Differential diagnosis. The structure of the genital ligula, with apico-lateral flagella and apical flap (Fig. 11 gh), places Coeliccia caerulea in the pyriformis -group. It differs clearly in coloration from C. curua, C. uenoi and C. phamiha, which have large blue antehumeral shields, and in the case of C. curua and C. uenoi yellow S9–10. The coloration of its thorax (Figs 4a, 5a, 26 a–b) is more similar to C. mientrung and C. pyriformis. The slightly curved blue antehumeral stripes are similar to those of the generally larger C. pyriformis, whereas in C. mientrung they are clearly shorter (Kompier & Phan 2017). Both these species have yellow S9–10 and C. pyriformis also has bicolored compound eyes in life, lacking green. Its yellow cerci have the ventral expansion placed slightly further distally than in C. caerulea, where it is placed one-fourth of cerci length back from the apex. The genital ligula of C. pyriformis has flagella with hammerhead shaped apices. The male of C. mientrung has similar genital ligula as C. caerulea, but the ventral expansion of its cerci is placed even further distally than in C. pyriformis. Coeliccia mientrung also has larger white spots laterally on the middle pronotal lobe of the prothorax. Coeliccia cyanomelas has blue abdominal tip, different thoracic pattern and shape of the cerci (Yu et al. 2019).
The female of C. caerulea shares the general structure of the prothorax with the females of C. pyriformis, C. phamiha and C. mientrung. The posterior pronotal lobe has a rounded central part (Fig. 21d), which is similarly rounded or more triangular in C. mientrung and C. phamiha, but squarish in C. pyriformis. Unlike in these species, S9 is completely dark, without a prominent yellow dorsal spot (Fig. 22f). In C. mientrung the labrum is largely yellow, whereas in C. pyriformis the yellow from the genae generally does not continue as far over the antefrons above the postclypeus. The yellow spot laterally on the middle pronotal lobe of the prothorax is much reduced compared to both C. mientrung and C. pyriformis, which are largely yellow laterally, whereas in C. phamiha the middle pronotal lobe appears to be completely yellow. Coeliccia uenoi differs for instance by the shape of the extension of the posterior pronotal lobe, with has raised lateral corners (Asahina 1997) and the largely yellow middle pronotal lobes. Coeliccia cyanomelas has no central extension of note on the posterior pronotal lobe of the prothorax.
Habitat and ecology. Coeliccia caerulea sp. nov. was found in degraded primary forest along a rocky and fast flowing mountain stream, along which C. coronata sp. nov., C. poungyi dasha Kosterin, 2016, and C. rolandorum also occurred.
description: Published as part of Kompier, Tom, Dow, Rory A. & Steinhoff, Philip O. M., 2020, Five new species of Coeliccia Kirby, 1890 from Vietnam (Odonata: Platycnemididae), and information on several other species of the genus, pp. 501-538 in Zootaxa 4766 (4) on pages 503-505, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4766.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3765652