Trithemis hinnula Dijkstra, Meziere &amp; Kipping, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.
name: Kipping, Jens
name: Mézière, Nicolas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Libellulidae
Trithemis
Trithemis hinnula

description: <i>Trithemis hinnula</i> Dijkstra, Mézière &amp; Kipping sp. nov. – Mule Dropwing (Type Photo 55, Photos 52, 70– 71, Fig. 32) Taxonomy Damm et al. (2010) recovered <i>Porpacithemis trithemoides</i> Fraser, 1958 within their molecular phylogeny of <i>Trithemis</i> Brauer, 1868. Morphology (see Dijkstra &amp; Clausnitzer 2014) and COI data indicate that the genera/species <i>Congothemis longistyla</i> Fraser, 1953, <i>Anectothemis apicalis</i> Fraser, 1954, <i>Porpacithemis dubia</i> Fraser, 1954 and <i>Lokithemis leakeyi</i> Pinhey, 1956 are also related closely to each other and <i>Trithemis osvaldae</i> D’Andrea &amp; Carfì, 1997 (Tree 9). These genera were recognised for their open venation, but “ <i>Congothemis</i> ” <i>longistyla</i> and “ <i>Porpacithemis</i> ” <i>dubia</i> cannot even be separated using COI, nor can “ <i>Anectothemis</i> ” <i>apicalis</i> and <i>T. osvaldae</i>. “ <i>Lokithemis</i> ” <i>leakeyi</i> is more distinct, but all fall within the variation of <i>Trithemis</i> (Tree 9). They also share typical generic characters of <i>Trithemis</i> such as the (a) small prothoracic hindlobe; (b) terminally narrowed Fw discoidal field; (c) high anterior lamina; and (d) large and prominently apical hook of the hamule. Furthermore, the female holotype of “ <i>A.</i> ” <i>apicalis</i> agrees in markings and venation with females collected with the male holotype of “ <i>P.</i> ” <i>trithemoides</i> also held in MRAC. All species are best considered as the <i>longistyla</i> -group within <i>Trithemis</i> (see diagnosis below) and we treat the listed genera as junior synonyms of <i>Trithemis</i> and the species <i>T. trithemoides</i> of <i>T. apicalis</i> [new synonymies]. An unnamed taxon with intermediate features but distinct COI sequences occurs with <i>T.apicalis</i>, <i>T. dubia</i> and <i>T. osvaldae</i> in Gabon, which is described here. Material studied <b>Holotype</b> <b>&amp;male;</b> <b>.</b> RMNH.INS.508117, Gabon, Haut-Ogooué Province, Ekala, Boubou stream at road Franceville-Bongoville, forest stream (Photo 52), 421 m a.s.l. (1.6115 ° S13.9115 ° E), 27 -i- 2012, leg. J. Kipping, RMNH. <b>Further material.</b> GABON (Haut-Ogooué Province): 1 &amp;male; (RMNH.INS.554534), Bongoville-Léconi road after Ekala, old village of Boubou, Boubou River, sandy and gravelly (2 m wide, 60 cm deep), open on roadside, bushy near river, 393 m a.s.l. (1.6113 ° S13.9105 ° E), 09-xii- 2012, leg. N. Mézière &amp; J. Lekogo, RMNH. 1 &amp;male; (RMNH.INS.558877), Plateau Batéké, Léconi Valley, Eaux Claires to Camps des Pygmés, clearing near river, 434 m a.s.l. (1.4548 ° S14.1784 ° E), 26 -x- 2013, leg. N. Mézière, RMNH. Genetics Two unique haplotypes (n = 3) form the well-supported sister-group of <i>T.dubia / longistyla</i> and <i>T. apicalis / osvaldae</i> combined (Tree 9). Male morphological diagnosis Typical of the <i>longistyla</i> -group by (a) small size, Hw 26.5–27.5 mm (n = 3); (b) the glossy black dorsum of the frons; (c) Fw discoidal field being partly of 2 cell-rows; and (d) the absence of cell-doublings in the radial planate and thus a single row of cells there. However, (1) the pale thoracic marking are more reduced, i.e., when the mesepimeron and metepimeron still bear distinct pale bands the mesepisternum, as well as the metepisternum between the metastigma and metapleural suture, is unmarked; (2) Hw base has a weakly defined dark patch to about Cux, most like <i>T. apicalis</i>, which is not distinctly darker in the subcostal and cubital spaces as in <i>T. dubia</i> and <i>T.longistyla</i>; (3) the hamule does not have a slender and sickle-like hook like <i>T. dubia</i> and <i>T. longistyla</i>, but also lacks the distinctly humped lobe of <i>T. apicalis</i>, <i>T. leakeyi</i> and <i>T. osvaldae</i>, instead having a rather short hook and a ridge-like lobe (Fig. 32); (4) S 4–7 have distinct pale markings ventrally when their dorsum is wholly black, S 5–6 developing some pale grey pruinosity, rather like <i>T. dubia</i> but unlike <i>T. apicalis</i> where pruinosity is more blue and concentrated on the thorax and S 1–3; and (5) the cerci are of normal proportions, with their ventral angle at a third of their length from the apex, rather than a sixth as in <i>T. dubia</i> and <i>T. longistyla</i> (Fig. 32). Etymology Latin “little female mule” refers to the intermediate morphology within the <i>longistyla</i> -group (noun in apposition). Range and ecology Swamps in gallery forest at 390 to 440 m a.s.l. on the sandy Batéké Plateau of south-eastern Gabon, where it occurs with <i>T. dubia</i> but is much scarcer. Males were mostly found on bare branches at the forest edge.
description: Published as part of <i>Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B., Kipping, Jens &amp; Mézière, Nicolas, 2015, Sixty new dragonfly and damselfly species from Africa (Odonata), pp. 447-678 in Odonatologica 44 (4)</i> on pages 648-652, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.35388