Vestalaria venusta Hamalainen 2004
Creators: name: Wang, Runxi
name: Yu, Xin
name: Xue, Junli
name: Ning, Xin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Calopterygidae
Vestalaria
Vestalaria venusta

description: Vestalaria venusta Hämäläinen, 2004
Material studied. Adult 1 ♂ (SCYA08) and larvae 1 ♂ (SCYA05), 1 ♀ (SCYA06): China, Sichuan, Yaan, Bifengxia Town, Houyan Village (103.0472° E, 30.1019° N), 25-vii-2011, Xin Yu leg.
Description of larva.
Diagnosis. A slender zygopteran with a relatively small head, long legs with distinct bands, and long abdomen with long sword-like gills. Ground colour of body pale brown (Fig. 2 a).
Head. Relatively small; in dorsal view general shape a compressed pentagon. Postocular lobes somewhat swollen, terminating in a pair of small dorsal upward-directed protuberances. Antennae 7-segmented, long and robust, especially segment 1 which is very strong and almost twice as long as all other segments together. Segment 2–7 gradually short and tapered from base to apex (Figs. 3 a, c). Prementum elongate, strongly expanded distally, about 1.5 times as long as broad, anterior margin deeply cleft with a pair of knife-like projections obliquely truncated apically, each bearing three pairs of setae, the most basal pair only one third as long as the middle pair which is not obvious (Figs. 4 a–b). Labial palp robust with three strong, long and incurved distal teeth, of which the middle one is the longest; inner margin of the palp slightly produced, bearing two pairs of setae; movable hook very long and robust (Figs. 4 a–b). Maxilla 1.5 times as long as broad; galea and lacinia partly fused; lacinia terminating in four long sharp spines, forming a curved, inward-directed, pitchfork-like structure; galea with three shorter spines directed upward. Palp with short basal segment and a single long banana-shaped terminal segment, reaching to half of most distal spines on galeo-lacinia, covered in dense long hairs (Figs. 5 a–d). Right mandible (Figs. 6 a–b) with four long and well developed incisors and a fifth innermost tooth; third incisor is the longest; molar crest produced to form two well-defined curved bifid spine (R 1’1234 y ab, 1’ <1 <2 <4 <3, a <b). Left mandible (Figs. 6 c–d) with four shorter incisors; molar crest produced straight, distal edge serrated with even dense tiny teeth between a and b (L 1’1234 0 a (m 1-11) b, 1’ <1 <2 <4 <3, a <b) of which it was difficult to determine the exact number.
Thorax. Prothorax not strong, narrower than both head and meso- and metathorax; meso- and metathorax almost rectangular in shape. Legs long and progressively slightly longer from pro- to metathorax. Femur slightly longer than tibia, each with two well defined dark bands. Wing pads narrow and not divergent, moderate long, just exceeding proximal edge of S4 (Fig. 2 a).
Abdomen. Slender, elongate. Gonapophyses small in male, projecting from middle of S9 to the two-thirds of this segment (Fig. 7 a). In female outer gonapophyses projecting from middle of S9 to end of S10; inner gonapophyses reaching still a little further (Fig.7 b). Cerci wholly concealed by caudal gills in ventral view (Figs. 7 a–b). Paired, long triquetral lateral gills and single lamellate middle gill both bearing tiny setae-like spines along margins (Figs. 8 a–b). Lateral gills with sharp apex always longer than the middle which has a nearly rounded apex, and both marked with dark spots (Figs. 9 a–b).
Microhabitat and behaviour. Larvae were found in a small montane stream with shallow water and stony substrates (Fig. 10). Meanwhile, adults of M. oreades, Anisopleura qingyuanensis Zhou, 1982, Archineura incarnata and Sympetrum eroticum (Selys, 1883) were present around the site in moderate numbers. The larvae were usually found concealed under stones or gravel in the day time and active at night.
description: Published as part of Wang, Runxi, Yu, Xin, Xue, Junli & Ning, Xin, 2017, Descriptions of larvae of Vestalaria venusta (Hämäläinen, 2004) and Matrona basilaris Selys, 1853 (Odonata: Calopterygidae), pp. 580-592 in Zootaxa 4306 (4) on pages 583-584, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4306.4.8, http://zenodo.org/record/845207