Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica Figueroa & Fochetti, 2014, sp. n.
Creators: name: Figueroa, José Manuel Tierno De
name: Fochetti, Romolo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Leuctridae
Tyrrhenoleuctra
Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica

description: Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica sp. n. Tierno de Figueroa & Fochetti
Type material: Holotype male: Portugal, Algarve: brooklet near Ribeira de Telhares, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 175 m, 37°26.171'N, 007°30.925'W, 26-II-1998, Tierno de Figueroa & Luzón-Ortega leg. Paratypes: same locality, date and collectors, 3 males and 3 females. Same locality, 19/II/2000, Tierno de Figueroa, Fochetti and Sezzi leg, 1 male used for molecular analysis.
Holotype and 4 paratypes (2 males and 2 females) are deposited in the Invertebrate Collection of Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain (MNCN Cat Tipos: 12318). The remaining two paratypes are deposited in the Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Granada (Granada, Spain).
Since specimens from the type locality exhibit no individual molecular variation (Fochetti et al. 2009), we report the sequence of one paratype in order not to damage the holotype, even though we are aware that different individuals of the same species can theoretically have different haplotypes even within a population. The accession number of the COI sequence (European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Nucleotide Sequence Database) of this paratype is FM213095.
Other material not designated as paratypes but considered to be representative of T. lusohispanica: Portugal, Algarve: Ribeira de Telhares, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 100–200m, 27-XI-1997, I: 7m, 6f; 26-II-1998, I: 22m, 26f. Stream close to Tações, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 200–400m, 27-XI-1997, I: 3m, 5f; 26-II-1998, I: 1m, 2f. Ribeira da Corte, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 200m, 26-II-1998, I: 15m, 22f, 7N. Tributary of Ribeira da Foupana, 1 km North of Cachopo, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 300m, 27-XI-1997, I: 2f; 26-II-1998, I: 5m, 5f. Tributary of Arroyo Marrocos, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 300m, 27-XI-1997, I: 1f; 26-II-1998, 1N. Ribeira de Odeleite, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 300m, 27-XI-1997, I: 1m; 26-II-1998, I: 15m, 14f. Ribeira da Alfambra, close to Aljezur, Serra de Monchique, 100–200m, 27-II-1998, I: 11m, 6f. Tributary of Barragem da Bravura, Serra de Monchique, 200m, 27-II-1998, 1N. Tributary of Ribeira do Freixo Seco, Serra de Mu ou Caldeirão, 400–600m, 27-II-1998, I: 1f. Tributary of Ribeira do Freixo Seco, Serra de Mu ou Caldeirão, 400–600m, 29-XI-1997, I: 1f. Tributary of R. Vascão, Serra de Mu ou Caldeirão, 200–400m, 29-XI-1997, I: 5m, 1f; 26-II-1998, I: 4m, 1f. Ribeira da Corte, Serra de Mu ou Caldeirão, 200–400m, 26-II-1998, I: 5m, 3f. Tributary of Ribeira da Corte, Serra de Mu ou Caldeirão, 200–400m, 29-XI-1997, I: 2m; 26-II-1998, I: 18m, 5f. Ribeira do Leiteijo, Serra de Alcaria do Cume, 400–600m, 29-XI-1997, I: 1m. Tributary of Barragem de Bravura, Serra de Monchique, close to Bica, 100–200m, 27-II-1998, I: 1m, 3f; (subnom. Tyrrhenoleuctra minuta) (Tierno de Figueroa et al., 1998). Spain, Cádiz, Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park: Grazalema, 700m, 1-VI-1959, I: 10f; id., 10-V-1960, I: 2m, 4f, 2N; Grazalema, 1100m, 10-V-1960, I: 1f, 1N; "alrededores de Villaluenga del Rosario", 800m, 11-V-1960, I: 7f; R. Majaceite, Ubrique, 500m, 11-V-1960, I: 1m, 4f; (subnom. Tyrrhenoleuctra tangerina) (Aubert, 1963a, b).
Etymology. The species is named for its geographical distribution in both southern Portugal and Spain.
Diagnosis. No diagnostic morphological characters were discerned to separate T. lusohispanica from related species. The use of traditional morphological characters in the species taxonomy of the genus is limited because of extensive intraspecific variation (Fochetti et al. 2009). A brief morphological description of adult males and females of T. lusohispanica, which is typical of species of the genus, is presented below for general comparison.
Male body length: 3.35–5.40 mm; female body length: 4.00– 7.15 mm. Body, legs and antennae uniformly brown. Male forewing length: 1.80–3.50 mm; female forewing length: 4.70–6.75 mm. Holotype male: total length: 4.9 mm, forewing: 1.9 mm. Tergites and sternites I–VIII clearly divided, ninth segment with tergite and sternite fused. Male ninth sternite with a round vesicle (Fig. 2 a). Apical part of the epiproct more or less triangularly shaped in rear view and pear-shaped in lateral view (Fig. 2 b). Male paraprocts with a sclerotized basal band enlarging on both sides (Fig. 2 a). Cerci simple (Fig. 2 a–d). Female genital plate, in its distal edge, of variable shape, rounded or more or less triangular according to the maturity or stage (probably mated vs. unmated).
A pairwise distance calculation using the COI sequence data (Table 1; sequence data not shown, available on request from second author) indicates that T. lusohispanica is more than 10% distant from the congeneric species (0.10–0.131) with the lowest values found in T. tangerina populations. Intraspecific distance in the two populations of T. lusohispanica analyzed was 0.010.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1
2 0.247
3 0.237 0.102
4 0.241 0.103 0.011
5 0.239 0.117 0.113 0.120
6 0.237 0.101 0.010 0.008 0.116
7 0.244 0.115 0.113 0.119 0.010 0.115 8 0.245 0.103 0.011 0.002 0.121 0.011 0.120 9 0.249 0.118 0.096 0.101 0.107 0.099 0.110 0.099 10 0.266 0.141 0.151 0.158 0.131 0.157 0.130 0.155 0.146 11 0.246 0.109 0.092 0.095 0.104 0.093 0.107 0.093 0.020 0.143 12 0.246 0.109 0.092 0.095 0.104 0.093 0.107 0.093 0.020 0.143 0.000 T. lusohispanica sp. n. (Portugal) T. minuta (Córdoba)
N mean±SD (min–max) N mean±SD (min–max) Male body length 20 4.52±0.33 (4.00–5.10) 20 4.22±0.59 (3.35–5.30) Male forewing length 20 2.64±0.65 (1.80–3.50) 20 2.11±0.32 (1.65–2.85) Epiproct apex width 20 0.10±0.01 (0.09–0.11) 20 0.11±0.01 (0.09–0.12) Epiproct apex length 20 0.16±0.01 (0.14–0.18) 20 0.17±0.02 (0.12–0.22) Female body length 20 5.88±0.53 (5.00–7.25) 20 5.63±0.80 (4.45–7.85) Female forewing length 20 5.39±0.66 (4.70–6.75) 20 5.67±1.23 (3.45–8.00) Affinities and remarks. Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica is indistinguishable based solely on morphological characters from other known Tyrrhenoleuctra species. Table 2 presents morphological characters with range of variation. These measurements indicate that individuals for example of T. lusohispanica fall within ranges measured for T. minuta from Córdoba, making morphological determinations problematic.
According to molecular sequences (Fochetti et al. 2009), T. lusohispanica is more closely related to the other southern Iberian Tyrrhenoleuctra species, T. minuta and T. tangerina, rather than to the Corso-Sardinian clade, indicating a phylogenetic affinity with the Ibero-Maghrebian clade of the genus.
Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica is a typical representative of the “thermophilous association” (Aubert 1963a), inhabiting more or less temporary streams with warm waters. It has been collected with Guadalgenus franzi (Aubert), Hemimelaena flaviventris (Pictet), Nemoura lacustris Pictet, Capnioneura gelesae Berthélemy & Baena, other species often associated with temporary streams. The marked phenotypic variability found in T. lusohispanica, as in other Tyrrhenoleuctra species, can be related to the thermal variability characteristic of temporary streams. This is consistent with Lillehammer (1976) observations that morphological features of the family Leuctridae can be influenced by environmental factors.
description: Published as part of Figueroa, José Manuel Tierno De & Fochetti, Romolo, 2014, A second new species of Tyrrhenoleuctra discovered by means of molecular data: Tyrrhenoleuctra lusohispanica n. sp. (Plecoptera: Leuctridae), pp. 587-593 in Zootaxa 3764 (5) on pages 589-592, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3764.5.7, http://zenodo.org/record/231479