Coeliccia diomedea 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 diomedea

description: 5. Coeliccia diomedea sp. nov.
(Figs 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 7 i–j, 8c–d, 11a–b, 14b, 16b, 17b, 18c–d, 19b, 22b, 24e–f, 27a–c)
Holotype. ♂, Bha Le Commune, Tai Giang District, Quang Nam Prov. (appr. 16.006N, 107.507E; alt. 680 m asl.), 26 ix 2015, TK leg.
Paratypes. 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Son Tra Peninsula, Da Nang City (16.126N 108.265E), 22 iii 2013, P.O.M. Stein- hoff leg.; 1 ♂, same location, date, and collector as holotype; 1 ♂ same location and collector, 27 ix 2015; 1 ♂, Quang Nam Prov. (appr. 15.939N, 107.586E), 30 iv 2016, TK leg.; 2 ♂♂, Thua Thien—Hue Prov. (appr. 16.109N, 107.435E), 3 v 2016, TK leg.; 1 ♀, Quang Nam Prov. (appr. 15.992N, 107.513E), 21 vi 2016, TK leg. (used for description).
Other material not examined by the authors. 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, Son Tra NR, Da Nang City, 14 iv 2017, QTP leg.; 1 ♂, Ba Na NR, Da Nang City, 11 v 2017, QTP leg.; 5 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Tr’Hy Commune, Tay Giang District, Quang Nam Prov., 18 v 2017, QTP leg.; 1 ♂, Mang Canh Commune, Kon Plong District, Kon Tum Prov., 22 v 2017, QTP leg.; 2 ♂♂, Bach Ma NP, Thua Thien—Hue Prov., 17 vii 2017, QTP leg.; 8 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, Ngoc Linh NR, Kon Tum Prov., 6 v 2018, QTP leg.; 2 ♂♂, Sao La NR, Thua Thien—Hue Prov., 19 vi 2018, QTP leg.
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Several females collected by Dr. Quoc Toan Phan (pers. comm.) have the lateral extensions of the posterior pronotal lobe of Coeliccia coronata extending even longer and folded further inward, meeting, in sideview giving the impression of a single raised horn. This suggests there is more variation than borne out by the two female paratypes in the possession of the authors (which are very similar). Such posterior pronotal lobes are even more different from the posterior pronotal lobes of the other members of the hayashii- group.
Etymology. The specific name diomedea is the name of a genus of albatross species and is used here in reference to the elongated “wings” of the posterior pronotal lobe of the prothorax of the female. A noun in apposition.
Description of holotype (Figs 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 7 i–j, 8c–d, 11a–b). Head (Fig. 1c). Labrum and postclypeus shiny black. Anteclypeus pale yellow, with two darker areas left and right on lower half. Genae and base of mandibles pale yellow, the yellow continuing over the antefrons above the postclypeus, remainder of frons matte black. Dorsal surface of head matte black, apart from two small pale yellow spots between base of antennae and lateral ocelli, two small pale yellow spots between lateral ocelli and anterior ocellus, and two oblong pale yellow postocular spots. Antennae dark brown, but top of first segment and base of second segment pale yellow. Compound eyes in life blackish brown dorsally, mint green ventrally.
Thorax. Prothorax (Figs 2c, 3c): matte black, covered in grayish pruinosity, propleuron pale yellow, but black along notopleural suture. Synthorax (Figs 4c, 5c): mesepisternum black, with a yellow antehumeral marking, broadest adjacent to mesostigmal area, tapering to tip at almost half length of mesepisternum. Mesepimeron black. Mesinfraepisternum black, but for small pale yellow area on its lower margin. Metepisternum yellow, but narrowly black along wing base and with distinct black stripe over metapleural suture, reaching forward almost to below spiracle. Metepimeron yellow. Legs: coxae and trochanters yellow. Femur and tibia pale yellow with black lines. Claws and spines blackish brown.
Wings. Hyaline, 17–19 Px in FW, 15–16 in HW. Pt brown, covering 1.3 cells.
Abdomen. S1 dorsally narrowly blackish, remainder yellow with posterior margin black; S2 black dorsally and yellow below, black along anterior margin; S3–6 brown dorsally, paler below, darker adjacent to nodes, but S3 with basal pale annulus; S7–8 blackish brown; S9 basal half blackish and apical half yellow, but yellow somewhat restricted below (Fig. 7 i–j); S10 yellow.
Anal appendages (Fig. 8 c–d). Yellow. In lateral view the cerci at base relatively narrow, at one-fourth suddenly expanding to about 1.5x in width, shorter than paraprocts, and with a rounded expansion towards the tip, directed inward, adorned with a small black tooth. The paraprocts of usual type, apically curved inwards and with black tooth at apex and about 1.25x length of cerci.
Genital ligula (Figs 11 a–b). The apical segment divided from base into two thin, long and almost straight flagella.
Measurements (in mm). HW 25; abdomen incl. appendages 40.
Variation in male paratypes. All paratypes lack the small pale spots between lateral and anterior ocelli. The extent of the yellow antehumeral spot somewhat variable in size, most extensive in holotype to less than one-fourth of length of mesepisternum in one paratype male, with no correlation found between location and spot-size. Extent of yellow on S9 variable, dorsally occupying as much as the apical two-thirds and lower laterally varying from absent to occupying the entire apical half. Px in FW 17–19, in HW 16–17.
Measurements (in mm). HW 25–27; abdomen incl. appendages 39–45.
Description of female paratype (Figs 14b, 16b, 17b, 18 c–d, 19b, 20a, 22b, 24f). Head (Fig. 14b). Labrum and postclypeus shiny black. Anteclypeus pale yellow, with two darker areas left and right on lower half. Genae and base of mandibles pale yellow, the yellow narrowly extending over the antefrons above the postclypeus to about one-fourth in, remainder of frons matte black. Dorsal surface of head matte black, apart from two short pale yellow lines from edge of compound eyes towards base of antennae, two larger pale yellow lines running from base of antennae to lateral ocelli and two small pale yellow spots between lateral ocelli and anterior ocellus. Two oblong pale yellow postocular spots. Antennae blackish brown, but top of first segment and base of second segment pale yellow. Compound eyes in life dark brown dorsally, green ventrally.
Thorax. Prothorax (Figs 16b, 17b, 18 c–d): black with an irregular, roundish yellow spot on both sides of middle pronotal lobe; anterior pronotal lobe with a small, distalmost yellow spot on each side. Propleuron pale yellow, but notopleural suture black. The posterior pronotal lobe spectacular, central part expanding from base into two pointed arms directed outward, rearward and upward, giving the impression of two slender wings (Figs 18 c–d), posterior margin between these arms subtriangular in dorsal view. Lapels small. Synthorax (Figs 19b, 20a, 24f): mesepisternum blackish brown, with long thin yellow antehumeral stripe, somewhat wider at its proximal end (Fig. 24f). Mesepimeron and mesinfraepisternum black. Metepisternum yellow, but narrow black margin along wing base connected to thick black line over metapleural suture, which not quite reaches to below spiracle. Metepimeron yellow. Legs: coxae and trochanters yellow. Femur and tibia pale yellow with black lines. Claws and spines blackish brown.
Wings. Hyaline, 17–18 Px in FW, 16 in HW. Pt dark brown, covering 1–2 cells.
Abdomen. S1 yellow with black dorsum and black posterior margin; S2 black dorsally and pale yellow below with black posterior margin; S3–7 blackish brown dorsally, paler below, somewhat darker at the nodes, and subapically forming a slightly paler spot, but not enough to be called an annulus; S8 yellow, but blackish brown above for basal two-thirds; S9 black with indistinct brown-orange markings dorsally; S10 blackish brown with some orangebrown blotches (Fig. 22b).
Anal appendages (Fig. 22b). Cerci blackish brown, half as long as S10, ovipositor orange and black, extending half the length of S10 beyond cerci.
Measurements (in mm). HW 27.5; abdomen incl. appendages 39.
Variation in female paratype. The female from Son Tra has the antehumeral stripe reduced to the anterior half of the mesepisternum and the dorsal side of S8 all blackish, not just basal two-thirds.
Measurements (in mm). HW 27; abdomen incl. appendages 42.
Differential diagnosis. The combination of genital ligula of which the terminal segment is divided at base into two straight flagella and a pruinose prothorax identify this species as a member of the hayashii -group. Within that group the male is easily identified by the combination of short yellow antehumeral spots, lack of pruinosity on the synthorax and yellow S9–10. The shape of the posterior pronotal lobe of the prothorax of the female (Figs 16b, 17b, 18 c–d) is similar in structure to that of female C. coronata, C. duytan, C. hayashii and C. lecongcoi. It differs in the angle of the lateral extensions of the prothorax, which are raised more upward in C. duytan, C. hayashii (Figs 16c, 17c, 18 a–b) and C. lecongcoi (see also Phan 2017, 2019) and are vertical in C. coronata (Figs 16a, 17a, 18 e–f). From all these, except C. lecongcoi, it also differs by the shape of the posterior margin of the posterior pronotal lobe, which is triangular in dorsal view (but see discussion).
Remarks. Coeliccia scutellum, C. pulchella sp. nov., and C. yamasakii are superficially similar in appearance to C. diomedea. These species lack the typical ligula and pruinosity of the hayashii -group. In addition C. scutellum has large, squarish, dorsal spots on the mesepisternum, virtually reaching the middorsal carina, which they never do in C. diomedea. The smaller C. pulchella (Fig. 6) has partly yellow S8 and has a ringed abdomen, and C. yamasakii has spots on the mesepisternum that, although smaller than in C. scutellum, also extend to the middorsal carina, and has much reduced pale markings on the abdomen tip.
The Coeliccia sp. nov. from Son Tra NR illustrated in Phan & To (2018: Fig. 6) refers to the taxon here described as C. diomedea (Phan pers. comm.).
Habitat and ecology. Coeliccia diomedea was found at a variety of very wet primary and degraded dense forest habitats close to small, muddy streams and seepages, where they perch in the undergrowth. Females were only rarely observed. It shared its habitat with C. scutellum at several locations.
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 516-521, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4766.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3765652