Protohermes spectabilis Liu, Hayashi & Yang, 2008, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Xingyue
name: Hayashi, Fumio
name: Yang, Ding
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Megaloptera
Corydalidae
Protohermes
Protohermes spectabilis

description: Protohermes spectabilis sp. nov.
(Figs. 3–4, 15–22, 32)
Diagnosis. The pronotum of P. spectabilis is almost entirely black. Its wings are dark with whitish markings and the male ninth sternum is deeply and trapezoidally incised with a small, secondary, medial incision.
Male. Body length 20–30 mm (n=9); forewing length 28–32 mm, hindwing length 26–30 mm.
Head (Fig. 15) yellowish brown; vertex with pair of large subquadrate black markings near posterolateral margins; area among ocelli with black marking, sometimes posteriorly extended and connected to vertexal markings; postocular spine short. Compound eyes brown; ocelli yellow, medially margined black; posterior ocelli slightly separated from median ocellus. Antenna black with scape and pedicel yellowish brown. Mouthparts yellowish brown; mandibles with distal half black except for tips reddish brown; maxillary and labial palpi with distal three segments dark.
Pronotum (Fig. 15) mostly black, leaving only a pair of extremely small yellowish brown markings at middle and a yellowish brown median longitudinal line on posterior half; sometimes black markings separated by a cross of yellowish brown markings medially. Meso– and metathorax yellowish brown to brown, margins dark dorsolaterally. Thoracic pilosity yellowish, much longer on meso– and metathorax than that on prothorax. Legs yellow throughout, with short, dense, yellowish setae; tarsal claws pale reddish brown. Wings (Fig. 3) blackish, with several creamy white markings. Forewing with blackish costal area, except for proximal half almost hyaline to slightly brownish; proximally with a small round marking, medially with a round marking, and usually with a small round marking in distal 1/3 or absent; anal area much paler, greyish. Hindwing similarly patterned with proximal half much paler, proximal half of costal area entirely hyaline. Veins dark, except for those in creamy white markings being pale yellow. Rs 7– to 9–branched, last branch bifurcate; 5–8 crossveins between R1 and Rs; M1+2 4–branched, M3+4 2–branched; 1A 3–branched.
Abdomen blackish brown with venter yellow. Ninth tergum (Fig. 16) with deeply concave anterior margin and nearly truncate posterior margin. Ninth sternum (Fig. 17) broad; posterior margin deeply and quadrately incised, forming a pair of slender processes, medially with a small suboblong incision. Ninth gonostylus (Fig. 19) slenderly unguiform, nearly as long as ninth tergum, with tip slightly curved. Tenth tergum (Figs 16–18) flattened, nearly as long as ninth tergum, its tip twisted inward and ventrad; in lateral view it is broadened medially with the tip distinctly pointed. Tenth sternum (Fig. 20) arched; dorsomedial process subtriangular; lateral lobes thick and digitiform, slightly curved medially, with obtuse tip.
Female. Body length 42 mm (n=1); forewing length 52 mm, hindwing length 46 mm. Color similar to male. Wings (Fig. 4) much paler than male. Forewing medially with several markings somewhat connected with each other; hindwing with proximal half nearly hyaline.
Eighth sternum (Figs 21–22) subtrapezoidal in lateral view; ventrally, anterior margin medially incised and posterior margin slightly produced. Ninth gonocoxite short, distal portion subquadrate, with small gonostylus at posteroventral corner. Laterally, tenth tergum short with posterior margin medially incised, leaving a subtriangular dorsal and a thin semicircular ventral lobe.
Type materials. Holotype ɗ, Eastern Malaysia: Sabah, near Keningau, 5°25N, 116°25E, 24.IV.1984, S. Nagai (CAU). Paratypes, Eastern Malaysia: 1 ɗ, Sarawak, Kuching, Mt. Serapi, 1°33N, 110°25E, 28.V.1990 (HC); 1 ɗ, Sarawak, Gunong Matang, 120 m, 1°36N, 110°10E, 12.IX.1958, J. L. Gressitt & T. C. Maa (BPBM); 1 ɗ, Sabah, Keningau, 12.IV.1990, K. Matsumoto (HC); 1 Ψ, Sabah, Keningau, 1990, O. Furuta (HC); 1 ɗ, Sabah, Crocker–range, 16 miles northwest of Keningau, 1400 m, 5°47N, 116°24E, 22.IV.1984, S. Nagai (HC); 1 ɗ, Sabah, 25 km north of Tambunan, 1500 m, 5°40N, 116°22E, 3.IX.1983, G. F. Hevel & W. E. Steiner (NMNH); 2 ɗ, Sabah, Mt. Kinabalu, Tenompok, 5°49N, 116°27E, 2.XI.1958, T. C. Maa (BPBM); 1 ɗ, Sabah, Sensuron, 5°43N, 116°43E, 9/ 11.I.1959, T. C. Maa (BPBM).
Distribution. Eastern Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak).
Etymology. The specific epithet ‘ spectabilis ’ refers to the striking appearance of the new species.
Remarks. The new species distinctly differs from the other two group members by the blackish wings and the unique structure of the male ninth sternum. Intraspecific variation is presented as follows: the vertexal markings are small and separated from, or enlarged and connected to, the marking at the ocellar triangle; the wings vary from black to brown; the forewing possesses one or several median markings; the distal marking of the forewing is punctuate or rounded. However, the characters of the male genitalia appear stable, reducing the risk of misidentification.
description: Published as part of Liu, Xingyue, Hayashi, Fumio & Yang, Ding, 2008, Species of the Protohermes sabahensis group (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) from eastern Malaysia, pp. 49-60 in Zootaxa 1782 on pages 53-54, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.182366