Neoperla beta Zwick & Zwick 2023, n. sp.
Creators: name: Zwick, Peter
name: Zwick, Andreas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Perlidae
Neoperla
Neoperla beta

description: 39. Neoperla beta n. sp.    
(Figs. 212, 215–216)  
 Type material: Holotype ♁: Republic of Senegal, Gambie à Samédouta, 26.01.89 (NEOP200; Z16.75; SMNS).   
 Paratypes: Republic of Sierra Leone: 1♀: Rokel à Katik, 7.2.1989 [8.8228N, - 13,1041W] (Z16/98, NEOP196; SMNS). Republic of Mali: 1♀: Bakoyé [13.59, -10.32], Kounoufara r. P.L. UV. 21.11.1984 (1989?)(Z16.93; NEOP199). Bafing bei Tinko, N 13°29’ 54’’, W 10° 45’ 19’’, Lichtfalle, W. Tobias: 2.10.1991, 1♁ (NEOP195), 1♀ (NEOP201; slide NEOP201) (all SMNS).   
 Additional material studied: Republic of Cameroon: 1♁, 2♀, Cameroun, 52 mi S Garoua [9.32N, 13.39E], Boki R., 330m, 29.IX.1966, E.S.Ross & K.Lorenzen (CASENT 8413085 and PZ, Z18.44). Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1♀, Congo Français, Fort Crampel (old egg slide Lestage; SMNS). Republic of Ghana: Asukawkaw R. 20.XI.85, J. Schorscher, 2♀, slide Afr 86/6; 1♀, Volta Region, Agumatsa Waterfalls, Wli St. 10 19.11.1993, Kjaerendsen light trap (egg slide in SMNS). Republic of Guinea, 5♀, Riv. Milo à Kankan (bassin du Niger) 26.10.1984: slides Afr 86/8 & 9, Z16.26; Republic of Liberia: Suakoko, Liberia, Africa, Feb 16 1952 C.C. Blickenstaff Neoperla spio Nwn. det S.G. Jewett (♀) (USNM 123). Republic of Mali: Bafing bei Tinko, N 13°29’ 54’’, W 10° 45’ 19’’, Lichtfalle, W. Tobias, 2.10.1991, 1♀; ibidem, 8.10.1992, 3 ♀ (NEOP198, SMNS); 23.09.1993, 1 ♀; 24.09.1993, 1 ♁ 2♀ (all W. Tobias, SMNS). Republic of Senegal: 5♁ (Z16/85, plus 1 dissected in microvial), 1 ♀ (Z16/84), Kokofata [12.79°N, 9.94°W] 7.11. 88 P. L.soir (SMNS, gift M. Élouard). Republic of Sierra Leone: 1♀, Pampana près de Magburaka [8.67°N, 11.96°W], 5.2.89 (Z16/77); 1♀, F. Rokel à Makaba [8.40652, -11.84601] 08.02.1985 (Z16/104); 1♀, Kaba à Gotamba, Kilims Nat. Pk. 04.02.1988 (Z16/102) (all SMNS, gift M. Élouard). Togolese Republic: 1♀, Tchamba [9.03N, 1.42E], 02.12.1985, V. Landa (Z16/123); 1♀, Kpassi (Mono R.), 30.11.1985, V. Landa (Z16/111).   
 Habitus. WL 9.0– 11.3mm. Resembles N. burgeoni but pale tibial tips were not noticed.   
 Male (Fig. 212). Resembles N. burgeoni, except in the penis: tube pale, soft, apex without distal notches, lateral sclerites, no external dorsodistal spines. Penis tube and everted endophallus form a continuum with gradually changing diameter, the ensemble resembles a carrot or a turnip. Except for a short dorsal area, the endophallus is fairly densely covered with sharp uniform spines. Apex plump, conical, no trunk-like distal part, no recurrent tube noticed.   
 Female (Fig. 215). Three brown marks in triangular arrangement occupy the entire S8, the unpaired caudal mark is small to very small. Vagina unmodified, slender, spermathecal stalk about 2.5 times longer than vagina.   
 Egg (Fig. 216). Slender ovoid similar to N. burgeoni, also in size. Collar with two rings of cells from which 23– 24 straight striae originate, sulci with unordered punctures. Towards the operculum, beyond the micropyles, sulci are subdivided and form strongly punctate cells which cover the operculum completely. Cells are deep, groove-like. Optical sections of slide-mounted eggs show deep concavities. Near the poles, costae seem to be sharp low crests between very wide sulci.   
 DNA (Figs. 491–492, 496). A total of six specimens from Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Mali were sequenced, representing a large part of the distribution of this species. This includes the male holotype from Senegal, for which 10,989bp of mitochondrial, protein-coding genes were obtained through genome-skimming. The monophyly of the species is very strongly supported (82.5/98/69), but one specimen from Mali has only a COX1 DNA barcode and rather divergent sequence; we cannot rule out that this divergence is caused by poor sequence quality. The species is near maximally supported (97/100/100) as sister to N. burgeoni Navás. Both sexes are represented.   
 Notes. The deep grooves on the operculum and a caudal mark on S8 which the two DNA-supported female N. beta have differ from most N. burgeoni females but the distinction is not reliable. Overall, DNA suggests some females of N. burgeoni are similar.   
 Etymology. A noun in apposition, the scientific name of the edible bete, in allusion to the shape of the endophallus.
description: Published as part of Zwick, Peter & Zwick, Andreas, 2023, Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data, pp. 1-194 in Zootaxa 5316 (1) on page 96, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5316.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8154005