Rhopalopsole wuyishanensis Yang & Du & Zhu 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yang, Yu-Ben
name: Du, Yu-Zhou
name: Zhu, Bin-Qing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Leuctridae
Rhopalopsole
Rhopalopsole wuyishanensis

description: Rhopalopsole wuyishanensis Yang & Du, sp. nov.
Figs. 1–4.
Adult habitus. Body length 5.8–6.2 mm, forewing length 5.2–5.6 mm, hindwing length 4.3–4.5 mm (N=6). Head brown, wider than pronotum; ocelli pale brown; antennae and palpi light brown (Fig. 1A). Pronotum brown, quadrate, all angles rounded. Legs light brown. Wings hyaline and veins light brown.
Male terminalia. (Figs. 1B, 2–3) Tergum 9 mostly sclerotized but weakly on median area, with a small triangular sclerotized process on hind margin. Sternum 9 basally with flabelliform vesicle bearing dense hairs, apically with a subgenital plate. Tergum 10 is bearing a large central plate covered with broad sensilla basiconica patch in the lower half, and less sclerotized in the upper half. Transverse plates roughly oval, with inner medial section strongly sclerotized. Lateral projections of tergum 10 plate-like, extending apically and dorsad with rectangular process and strongly sclerotized apex. Epiproct thick at base, hook-like, not tapering appreciably along its course but ending in a rounded point. Subanal lobes of large size with well-defined ventral furrows, expanding appreciably, then abruptly narrowing towards its apex. Cercus hairy and upcurved, lacks spine.
Female. Unknown.
Type materials. Holotype: ♂, China: Fujian Province, Wuyi Mountains, 725 m, 27°44′46″N, 117°40′28″E (Fig. 4), 2021-IV-13, leg. Huo Qing-Bo and Zhu Bin-Qing. Paratypes: 5 ♂♂, same data as holotype.
Etymology. This new species is named after the place of collecting.
Diagnosis and remarks. Rhopalopsole wuyishanensis is a member of the R. shaanxiensis group as proposed by Sivec et al. (2008). The new species is most similar to R. yajunae Li & Yang, 2010. Sternum 9 of R. wuyishanensis and R. yajunae, are both ornamented with a trapezoidal darker area, posteriorly bearing a triangular spine. Cerci of both are lacking a spine, and they are also sharing a similar epiproct. The two species can be distinguished as follows: in R. yajunae, tergum 10 has a central plate with light rougosities flanked by two lateral bars. In dorsal view, lateral spines originate from a quadrate plate, extend upwards and backwards, ending in two points. However, in R. wuyishanensis, the central plate of tergum 10 has rougosities but is flanked by two, almost invisible lateral bars. Lateral projections of tergum 10 extend a rectangular process that is not forked in either the dorsal or lateral view.
The new species is also similar to Rhopalopsole faciursina Qian & Du, 2017. The males share similarly shaped subanal lobes and central plates of tergum 10 but can be distinguished as follows: in R. wuyishanensis, the central plate of tergum 10 is covered by a broad patch of sensilla basiconica in the posterior half, and less sclerotized in the anterior half. Lateral projections of tergum 10 are extending apically and dorsally with a rectangular process and a strongly sclerotized apex. Epiproct thick at base, ending in a rounded point. In R. faciursina, the central plate of tergum 10 lacks an obvious sensilla basiconica patch in the posterior half, and a pair of triangular sclerites are added laterally. Lateral projections of tergum 10 are with rounded apex, not expanding backwards. Epiproct thick and erect, its tip is acute in top view.
description: Published as part of Yang, Yu-Ben, Du, Yu-Zhou & Zhu, Bin-Qing, 2021, Two new species of Rhopalopsole (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) from Wuyi Mountains of China, pp. 143-150 in Zootaxa 5071 (1) on pages 144-145, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5071.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/5723421