Protoneura aurantiaca Selys 1886
Creators: name: Ellenrieder, Natalia Von
name: Garrison, Rosser W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Protoneuridae
Protoneura
Protoneura aurantiaca

description: Protoneura aurantiaca Selys, 1886
Figs. 3 (♂ habitus), 27 (♀ habitus), 49 (♀ mes. plate), 73 (gen. lig.), 99 (♂ app.), 122 (map)
Protoneura aurantiaca Selys, 1886: 213 –214 (description of ♂ from Panama?);— Calvert (1903: 140, 143, pl. 5, Fig. 44; in key, redescription of ♂ from Mexico and Guatemala, illustration of S10);— Calvert (1907: 394, 396; in key);— Williamson (1915: 619, 624–625, Figs. 4, 17; in key, description of ♀, notes on types, illustration of wings and thoracic pattern);— Paulson (1982: 252; Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama);— Donnelly (1989: 436–437, Figs. 3, 4, 6; diagnosis from P. sulfurata, illustrations of ♂ S10 and ♀ mesostigmal plate);— Measey (1994: 45; Belize); — Novelo-Gutiérrez (1994: 26–29, 31, Figs. 1–8; description of larva, illustrations of habitus, prementum, labial palp, mandibles, antenna, gonapophysis, cerci, and caudal lamellae, diagnosis from larvae of P. ailsa and P. cupida);— Boomsma & Dunkle (1996: 25; Belize);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (1996: 162; Mexico);— González-Soriano (1997: 253; Mexico);— González-Soriano (2001: 337, notes on biology); — Alonso-Eguía Lis et al. (2002: 352; Mexico);— Rehn (2003: 212; in phylogenetic analysis);— Paulson (2009b; IUCN assessment);— Garrison et al. (2010: 379, Figs. 2506, 2507; illustration ♂ head, ♀ pronotum and mesostigmal plate);— González-Soriano & Paulson (2011: 302, 307; Mexico);—González- Soriano et al. (2011: 184; Mexico);— González-Soriano & Novelo-Gutiérrez (2011: 2, Appendix VIII.21.2; Mexico);— Garrison & von Ellenrieder (2013: 22; Costa Rica).
Primary types. Holotype ♂: Panama? [RBINS].
Specimens examined. 60 ♂ 21 ♀: MEXICO, San Luis Potosí State: 6 ♂ 2 ♀, Huichihuayan, route 85, km 399 {21°28' N, 98°58'3'' W, 100 m}, 7 viii 1966, O.S. Flint, Jr. leg. [USNM]; 1 ♂, same data but [RWG]; 8 ♂, Huichihuayan, S of Valles, km 410, San Brown Hacienda, 25–27 ix 1938, L.J. Lipovsky leg. [UMMZ]; 1 ♀, Huehuetlán, about 9 mi N of Matlapa on highway 85 {21°26' N, 98°54' W}, 11 iv 1963, R.L. Pyke leg. [FSCA]; Tabasco State: 1 ♂, Teapa {17°33' N, 92°57' W}, H.H. Smith leg. [UMMZ]; Veracruz State: 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Presidio, 40 km SE of Cordoba {19°5' N, 96°58' W, 1,599 m} O.S. Flint & M.A. Ortiz leg. [USNM]; 1 ♂, stream 4.3 mi E of Cordoba, by highway 150 {18 53' N, 96 50' W}, 13 viii 1965, D.R. Paulson leg. [UMMZ]; 1 ♂, same data but [FSCA]; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Laguna Azul, Emilia, and Arroyo de Laguna Escondida near Los Tuxtlas Biological Station, 27 viii 1988, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; 7 ♂ 5 ♀, vicinity of Lagunas Azul and Emilia, Los Tuxtlas Biological Station, about 30 km NE of Catemaco (18°25'12'' N, 95°6'36'' W, 600 m), 7–14 1982, R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG]; 2 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [FSCA]; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [CSCA]; 2 ♂, same data but [UMMZ]; Chiapas State: 3 ♂ 3 ♀, Cascada Mizolja, km 47, Palenque-Ocotzingo Road, 20 km S of Palenque (17°20'3'' N, 91°58'37'' W, 260 m), 25 ix 1983, R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG]; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same data but [FSCA]. BELIZE, Cayo Dist.: 1 ♂, medium stream 20.2 mi SE of Belmopan on Hummingbird highway, 27 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (in tandem), river and small tributary, just east of Roaring Creek at W highway (17°15' N, 88°47' W}, 27 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [RWG]; 2 ♂ 2 ♀, Río Frío at Cave, 1 mile W of Augustine, small forest stream in hardwoods {16°58' N, 89°0' W, 460 m}, 23 iii 1986, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, stream on W highway at Unitedville School, 30 v 1993, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; Toledo Dist.: 4 ♂ 1 ♀, Blue Creek Village along Blue Creek (16°11'52'' N, 89°2'32'' W, 42 m), 7–8 i 1989, N.E. Adams leg. [USNM]. GUATEMALA, Zacapa Dept.: 2 ♂ 1 ♀, Los Amates, along a small wetweather stream in woods {15°16' N, 89°6' W}, 21 vi 1909, E.B. Williamson leg. [UMMZ]; 1 ♂, same data but [USNM]; 1 ♂, same data but [FSCA]. NICARAGUA, Río San Juan Dept.: 1 ♂, San Juan River, Refugio Bartola (10°58'12'' N, 84°20'24'' W, 30 m), 4 v 2001, G. Grether leg. [RWG]. COSTA RICA, Heredia Prov.: 2 ♂, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, La Selva Biological Station, stream in primary forest and grassy area (10°28' N, 84°1' W, 60 m), 25 viii 1988, C. Esquivel H. leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, Finca La Selva (10°26'59'' N, 84°3'52'' W, 37 m), 25 xi 1986, T.C. Emmel leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, Sarapiquí, small flood plain pool at small clear water river 9.7 km SE of Puerto Viejo {10°22' N, 83°55' W}, 2 iii 1987, S.W. Dunkle leg. [FSCA]; 1 ♂, La Horqueta, ditch at road (10°20'22'' N, 83°57'27'' W, 78 m), 27 v 2013, N. von Ellenrieder & R.W. Garrison leg. [RWG]; Limón Prov.: 1 ♂, La Lola, 28.3 mi W of Limón, 22 vii 1963, F.G. Thompson leg. [FSCA].
Characterization. Male: Epicranium black with an orange spot along anterior margin of postfrons, black stripes on thorax, dorsum of S1, distal portion of S3, and S4–10; pale colors red to orange, and yellow ventrally (Fig. 3). Pronotum anterior lobe black with medial and lateral orange spots, middle lobe with dorsum orange, and posterior lobe entirely orange. Mesepisternum orange with middorsal carina black and a narrow black stripe along distal 1/4 of mesepisternal-mesepimeral suture; mesepimeron orange anteriorly and black posteriorly; metepisternum orange with black along posterior margin; metepimeron entirely pale orange to yellow. Leg yellow with tips of femur, tibia, and tarsi narrowly brown to black, femur and tibia usually with two diffuse brownish rings sub-basally and subapically; tibial spurs shorter than twice intervening spaces. Genital ligula lacking lateral lobes and with a slightly concave distal margin, with lateral margins of distal segment spiculate and laterodistal corners not projected ventrally (Fig. 73). Cercus shorter than S10 length, slightly shorter than paraproct, about as long as wide, with a depression on external dorsolateral surface and a longitudinal split along ventrodistal portion, dorsal margin with a distal concavity and ventral margin slightly convex in lateral view (Fig. 99a), with medial surface concave and with a small blunt ventrobasal tooth and two apical pointed dorsal teeth, one on distal margin and one on medial surface, visible in dorsal and mediodorsal views (Figs. 99b, c). Paraproct shorter than S10 length, at midlength narrowing to half its basal width and ending in a triangular tip (Fig. 99). TL 35.5–40; Hw 17–18.
Female: As male but middle lobe of pronotum with orange restricted to a lateral band; black stripe extending along distal 3/4 of mesepisternal-mesepimeral suture, and all abdominal segments black dorsally; pale lateral area of S9 extended medially to about 2/3 of segment height. Middle lobe of pronotum lacking pronounced lateral depressions; posterior lobe entire, with sides straight converging to a smoothly convex tip, directed dorsally. Mesostigmal plate approximately triangular with a central concavity, anterior margin carinate and sinuous, and posteromedial corner contiguous with a carina extending midway to middorsal carina, surrounding a depression on mesepisternum (Fig. 49). TL 36–38; Hw 19.5–22.
Diagnosis. Among the species with male paraproct no longer than S10 length, P. aurantiaca shares male cercus that is approximately quadrangular, about as long as wide, with a ventrodistal longitudinal split and depression on external dorsolateral surface, concave medial surface, and two short apical teeth in dorsal view (Figs. 98; 99; 105; 115); and genital ligula distal segment with lateral margins spiculate (Figs. 72; 73; 79; 89) only with P. amatoria, P. cupida, and P. sulfurata. It is diagnosed from P. amatoria under that species, and it can be differentiated from the other two species by its orange color (Fig. 3; pale blue in P. cupida and bright yellow in P. sulfurata, Figs. 9; 19). The carinate and sinuous anterior margin of female mesostigmal plate (Fig. 49) is unique within the genus.
Habitat and biology. Adults found along small wet-weather stream in woods in Guatemala (Williamson 1915), and in Belize (Measey 1994) along fast-flowing rivers and streams surrounded by forest, open to shady, and at a trickle in a swamp. Larvae were found among shoreline aquatic vegetation at a small clear pond and in small pools of a rocky shaded stream running through high-elevation perennial forest (Novelo-Gutiérrez 1994). González-Soriano (2001) observed small aggregations of males hovering at 3–4 m above ground level near the edge of a small stream in Mexico.
Distribution. Mexico and Belize south to Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Fig. 122), and possibly Panama (dubious type locality). Assessed as Least Concern by IUCN (Paulson 2009b).
description: Published as part of Ellenrieder, Natalia Von & Garrison, Rosser W., 2017, A synopsis of the Neotropical genus Protoneura (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), pp. 1-76 in Zootaxa 4361 (1) on pages 13-15, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4361.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1069337