Miroculis (Miroculis) botafora Rodrigues & Nascimento & Raimundi & Lima 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Rodrigues, Jackson A. O.
name: Nascimento, Stênio R. S.
name: Raimundi, Erikcsen A.
name: Lima, Lucas R. C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Ephemeroptera
Leptophlebiidae
Miroculis
Miroculis botafora

description: Miroculis (Miroculis) botafora sp. nov.
(Figs 2A–E, 3A–C).
Diagnosis: Miroculis (Miroculis) botafora sp. nov. can be distinguished from the other species of the genus by the following combination of characteristics. In the male: 1) dorsal portion of compound eyes on a short stalk (0.5× longer than wide); 2) dorsal portion of compound eyes with eight facets on the longest row (Figs 2B–C); 3) hyaline wings, with poorly developed hind wing costal projection; 4) fore- and hind wing with membrane hyaline (Figs 2A, C); 5) styliger plate with a deep medial excavation (Fig. 2D); 6) inner margin with a subdistomedial projection on apical ¼; 7) penes length approximately 1.8× length of forceps segment I, tubular and with apex slightly curved upward (Figs 2D, 2E, 3C).
Descriptions. Male imago (Figs 2A–E, 3A–C).
Measurements. Body: 5.50 mm; forewing: 5.20 mm; angularity of CuA portion: 98°; hind wing: 1.40mm. Foreleg: broken off and missing. Caudal filament: broken off and missing.
Ratios. Wings: forewing width 0.4× fore wing length; hind wing length 0.3 fore wing length; hind wing width 0.5× hind wing length; fork on MA 2 of fore wing 0.5× total length of MA. Legs: broken off and missing. Genitalia: medial length of styliger plate 1.3× maximum width; lateral length of styliger plate 0.9× medial length of styliger plate. Forceps segment III 0.6× forceps segment II; forceps segment III 0.3× forceps segment I; forceps segment II 0.5× forceps segment I. Penes length approximately 1.8× forceps segment I.
Coloration. General coloration: brown. Head. light brown. Compound eye with stalk orange, lighter toward apex; facets of upper portion light brown, separated by black grooves (Figs 2A–C). Ocelli white, surrounded with dark gray. Antenna translucent whitish. Thorax (Figs 2A, C). Pro-, meso- and metanotum brown. Pleura and sterna light brown. Wings (Figs 2A, C). Fore- and hind wing with hyaline membrane; cross and longitudinal veins brown. Legs: broken off and missing. Abdomen (Figs 2A, C). Terga translucent light brown with blackish marks on medial area of all segments; terga I to VI translucent washed with light brown, terga VI to IX brownish; terga I to VI with sublateral dark brown transversal band. Sterna translucent light brown (Fig. 2A). Genitalia (Figs 2D, E). Styliger plate brownish translucent. Forceps segment I washed with grayish brown, darker toward apex; segments II and III washed with grayish brown. Penes dark brown. Caudal filaments: broken off and missing.
Morphology. Head. Posterior margin straight. Compound eye with upper portion on stalk of short length (0.5× longer than wide), separated from each other by distance subequal to maximal width of upper portion; dorsal surface circular, with eight facets in longest row (Figs 2B–C). Thorax. Wings: forewing with 3 cross veins basal to bulla between C and Sc; MP2 not connected to base of MP1 by cross vein; IMP connected to MP1 at base; CuA connected to CuP by one cross vein; ICu1 and ICu2 not connecting by cross vein; two A veins (Fig. 3A). Hind wing with fork of R+MA asymmetric; CuP present; costal projection poorly developed; distal margin slightly acute (Fig. 3B). Abdomen. Genitalia: posterior margin of styliger plate with deep medial excavation. Forceps segment I narrowing gradually toward apex; inner margin with a subdistomedial projection on apical ¼ (Fig. 2D). Penes long, tubular, wider at base, narrowing gradually toward apex; presenting gonopore almost completely fused, with ventral sulcus in apical half of each lobe; apically curved upward (Figs 2D, E, 3C).
Female imago and nymph. Unknown.
Etymology. The name botafora is a reference to the type locality, the Bota Fora waterfall. Noun in apposition.
Distribution. Brazil: Piauí State.
Type material. Holotype: Ô imago Brazil, Piauí State, Piripiri municipality, Cachoeira do Bota Fora, S4°12′51.1′′, W41°40′01.7′′, 162m, 14.x.2017, Lima, R. C.L. col. (UFVB).
Comments. Miroculis (Miroculis) botafora sp. nov. is morphologically similar to Miroculis fazzariensis Costa & Mariano 2013, mainly because both have a longitudinal groove connecting to the opening of gonopore. In M. (M.) botafora sp. nov., the gonopore groove is present from the apical half of each lobe, while in M. fazzariensis it is restricted to the apex of the penes. Besides, the penes length of the new species is 1.8× the forceps segment I, opposed 0.8 to 1.0× in M. fazzariensis.
description: Published as part of Rodrigues, Jackson A. O., Nascimento, Stênio R. S., Raimundi, Erikcsen A. & Lima, Lucas R. C., 2023, New species and new records of Miroculis Edmunds, 1963 (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae) from Chacoan Domain in northeastern Brazil, pp. 27-47 in Zootaxa 5230 (1) on pages 29-32, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5230.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7550447