Rhopalopsole singiplatta Yang & Du & Zhu 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Yang, Yu-Ben
name: Du, Yu-Zhou
name: Zhu, Bin-Qing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Plecoptera
Leuctridae
Rhopalopsole
Rhopalopsole singiplatta

description: Rhopalopsole singiplatta Yang & Du, sp. nov.   
(Figs. 1–3)  
 Male. Body length 12 mm, forewing length 10 mm, hindwing length 8 mm (n=1). Head brown, somewhat wider than pronotum (Fig. 1A); ocelli white; antennae and palpi brown. Pronotum brown, quadrate, longer than wide, anterior and posterior corners rounded and with several black irregular stripes (Fig. 1A). Legs light brown. Wings hyaline and veins light brown.   
Tergum 9 mostly sclerotized, lesser so medially and without ornamentation (Figs. 2A, 2B). Sternum 9 basally with flabelliform vesicle bearing dense hairs, apically with a triangular subgenital plate (Figs. 2C, 3B). Tergum 10 bearing a central plate covered with macrotrichia with no roughage of cuticular surface at distal end, lateral bars heavily sclerotized (Figs. 2A, 3A). Lateral projections of tergum 10 originating as a rounded base and extending upwards and backwards in a short plate, ending in a forked process, the lower point slightly smaller (Figs. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3C). Transverse plates roughly triangular (Figs. 2A, 3A). Epiproct thick at base, hook-like, tapering appreciably along its course, ending in a round point (Figs. 2A, 2B, 3A). Subanal lobes of medium size, flat and plate-like, expanding posteriorly, with well-defined ventral furrows (Figs. 2C, 3B). Cercus hairy and upcurved, no spine (Figs. 2, 3A, 3B).  
 Female. Body length 8 mm, forewing length 8 mm, hindwing length 6 mm (n=1). Head dark brown, somewhat wider than pronotum (Fig. 1B); ocelli white; antennae and palpi brown. Pronotum brown, quadrate, longer than wide, with several black irregular stripes (Fig. 1B). Legs brown. Wings hyaline and veins light brown. Subgenital plate on sternum 8 produced into a broadly triangular extension with a middle knotch, hind margin strongly sclerotized as well as hind part of central area (Fig. 1C). Transverse bar in sternum 9 evenly sclerotized.   
 Type materials. Holotype: ♂, China: Sichuan Province, Congzhou City, Anzi River, 1706 m, N: 30.7783, E: 103.2225, 2016-VI-21, leg. Chen Zhi-Ten (ICYZU). Allotype: 1 ♀, same data as holotype.   
 Etymology. The species name refers to lateral bars blending with the central plate of tergum 10 of the adult male to form a single plate.   
 Diagnosis and remarks. Rhopalopsole singiplatta sp. nov. is a member of the R. vietnamica Sivec & Harper, 2008 west group as proposed by Sivec et al. (2008), with tergum 10 of the adult male possessing a central plate with lateral bars strongly sclerotized, lateral projections typically ending in a forked process, epiproct simple and thick, and subanal lobes typical of this group. At present, this new species is the largest species of Rhopalopsole in China, approximately 2X the average length. The male of the new species appears most closely related to R. hainana Li & Yang, 2010 by sharing a similar epiproct. but can be separated from the latter by lateral projections on tergum 10 with the length of upper spine being equal to the lower one in lateral view, the cercus of the new species lacks a spine while that of R. hainana has a subapical spine.   
 The new species is also similar to R. cestroidea. They share a similar lateral projection of tergum 10 with the length of upper spine being subequal to lower one in lateral view and the cercus of both species lacks a spine. But the new species can be distinguished from R. cestroidea by tergum 10 bearing a central plate with macrotrichia lateral bars that are heavily sclerotized. Rhopalopsole cestroidea has an epiproct that is much wider than long and nearly as wide as the central plate, the central plate sclerotized, with posterior half darker with a quadrate medial elevation but without lateral bars. The shape of subgenital plate of the female of the new species is a trapezoid, and there are two sclerotized spots on the upper edge (Fig. 1C), while that of R. cestroidea is more like a square and without spots on the upper edge (fig. 17 in Li et al. 2017).   
 Molecular analysis. The Maximum Likelihood tree supported the morphological distinction of R. singiplatta sp. nov. and the separation from the five other species of Rholapopsole with 100% nodal support. (Fig. 4). Interspecific divergence values for R. singiplatta sp. nov. ranged from 14.5–25.0% of genetic divergence in comparison with the other species whereas intraspecific between an associated male-female pair was only 1.1%. Combined, this is good evidence for the validity of R. singiplatta sp. nov. (Hebert et al. 2003, Zhou et al. 2009).
description: Published as part of Yang, Yu-Ben, Du, Yu-Zhou & Zhu, Bin-Qing, 2022, A new species of Rhopalopsole Klapálek, 1912 with preliminary female identifications in this genus, pp. 270-278 in Zootaxa 5133 (2) on pages 271-273, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5133.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/6524474