Coeliccia tongbiguan Dow & Zhang 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Dow, Rory A.
name: Zhang, Hao-Miao
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Platycnemididae
Coeliccia
Coeliccia tongbiguan

description: Coeliccia tongbiguan sp. nov.
(Figs 1, 3, 9, 11, 15–16, 21, 23–24, 29, 31, 33, 35)
Coeliccia sp. 2;— Zhang 2017: 17, Fig. 22d.
Type material: Holotype. 1 ♂ (C31), 8 vii 2014, Tongbiguan (24.64079N, 97.58712E, ca 970 m a.s.l.), Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai & Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China, in RMNH. Paratypes. 2 ♂♂, 1 vi 2016, same location as holotype male, in coll. HMZ.; 2 ♂♂, 2 vi 2016, same location as holotype male, in coll. HMZ.
Etymology. The species is named tongbiguan, a name in apposition, after the type locality.
Description of holotype male. Head (Figs 1, 3). Labium whitish except hooks of labial palps, which are black. Labrum shining black, brownish centrally at free margin. Mandible bases largely bluish white, black adjacent to genae. Postclypeus shining black, anteclypeus pale blue with pair widely separated black spots adjacent to labrum. Genae pale blue. Antenna black with top part of scape, base of pedicel whitish, top of pedicel dark brown, rest missing. Frons and vertex mostly black, with small bluish marks directed from lateral ocelli toward, but not reaching, antennae (Fig. 3). Ocelli white. Whitish, small, elongate oval, transverse postocular spots. Underside of head black except for a small pale blue area continuous with that colour on the genae.
Thorax. Prothorax (Figs 9, 11) entirely black except brown patch on propleuron below rear of anterior pronotal lobe (Fig. 11). Anterior carina of anterior pronotal lobe same height as main part (Fig. 11). Posterior pronotal lobe simple, slightly raised along free margin. Synthorax (Figs 15, 16) with mesepisternum black with pair of pale blue (greenish in life) antehumeral stripes close to the middorsal carina, running from near to the mesostigmal plates, somewhat less than half the length of mesepisternum (Fig. 15). Mesepimeron black below mesopleural suture, below this a large pale blue mark extending also over most of metepisternum apart from a black stripe tapering from antealar carina above metapleural suture, terminating short of spiracle. Metepimeron pale blue, venter whitish. Mesokatepisternum black, metakatepisternum black and dark brown above and to rear, rest pale. Legs with coxae pale, trochanters pale with small black marks immediately above femurs. Femur mostly pale with broad black stripes on extensor surfaces, anterior femur with black stripe along lower ca two thirds flexor surface, similar on middle femur but stripe on flexor surface only in distal ca one quarter, on posterior femur even shorter; tibia mostly pale, dark along flexor surface, tarsi including claws very dark brown and black. Wing bases largely pale orange (striking yellow in life as in Fig. 35 which shows a paratype). Wings with arc situated slightly distal to Ax 2. Fw with 17 Px, Hw with 16. Two post quadrilateral cells in all wings. R 4 proximal to Sn, IR 3 at or very slightly distal to it. Pt dark brown with narrow white margin, almost a rhombus, covering one underlying cell entirely and small part of another. Lower parts of wing bases yellow.
Abdomen. S1 pale laterally, black dorsally and behind posterior carina. S2 mostly black, pale laterally above margin of tergite, boundary between the colours abrupt and irregular. S3–S6 black, pale lower laterally (e.g. immediately above margin of tergite), faint brown basal annulus, broadly interrupted dorsally; faint, poorly defined brown subapical annulus, paler lower on the sides, these becoming fainter on successive segments, hardly visible on S6. S7, S8 black, pale lower laterally and partly behind posterior carina. S9 black with poorly defined brownish orange lateral mark. S10 dull orange (yellow in life) with central irregular subtriangular black mark dorsally (Figs 23, 24). Cerci largely pale orange (yellow in life). In lateral view (Fig. 31) running slightly upwards from base, then downwards in apical ca one third, expanded interior-ventrally at ca one third length from base, lower margin running downwards to rounded apex from this point, very small ventral tooth present subapically. In dorsal view (Fig. 29) cerci subconical, slightly constricted at around two thirds length from base, apices rounded. Paraprocts orange basally, black apically, longer than cerci. In lateral view (Fig. 31) broad at base then rather abruptly narrowing at ca one quarter length, thereafter approximately cylindrical, directed gently upwards, rounded at apex. In ventral view (Fig. 33) tapering from base along outer margin to ca half length, then almost straight, turned inwards at apex.
Genital ligula. Terminal segment divided from near base into two thick, fleshy arms, in ventral view (Fig. 21) running closely together, almost parallel until curved outwards and upwards around shaft, apically curved back so apices pointed toward base of segment.
Measurements (mm). Abdomen without anal appendages ca 33, cerci ca 0.7, Hw ca 21.5.
Female. Unknown.
Variation. The shape of the black spots on the anteclypeus is variable. The wing bases are usually without yellow tint. One male has a darker abdominal tip, with S9 entirely black and S10 largely black dorsally (Fig. 35).
Measurements (mm). Abdomen without anal appendages ca 36–36.5, Hw ca 24–25, Fw with 20–21 Px, Hw with 18 Px.
Diagnosis. The male of this species differs from almost all other known species of Coeliccia in the form of the genital ligula, in other species where the terminal segment is divided from near to its base the arms (or flagellae) are considerably thinner than the fleshy arms in C. tongbiguan. The exception is C. hoanglienensis Do, 2007 which also has similar markings on the synthorax but whose anal appendages are clearly different (compare Figs 29 and 31 here with Figs 4, 5 in Do 2007). The short, closely spaced antehumeral stripes are also diagnostic, only shared, in the absence of additional pale markings on the mesepisternum, with C. flavicauda Ris, 1912 and Coeliccia renifera (Selys, 1886) both of which have totally different forms of genital ligula, the poorly known C. rotundata Asahina, 1984, which has shorter cerci with far more rounded apices (only a poor quality lateral view of the genital ligula of this species was provided by Asahina (1984), but it is certainly of a different form from that in C. tongbiguan), and C. hoanglienensis. Coeliccia fraseri Laidlaw, 1932 also has antehumeral markings in the same position and these appear to be variable in length (see Figs 165–167 in Lahiri 1987) but that species has a genital ligula with the terminal segment divided from its base into thin arms. Coeliccia sarbottama Lahiri, 1987, only known from the holotype and which might be a junior synonym of C. fraseri, has long antehumeral markings placed close together, these could be variable in length but the anal appendages are completely different (see Figs 161 (confusingly upside down) and 162 in Lahiri 1987) and a genital ligula like that of C. fraseri. The anal appendages also distinguish C. tongbiguan from most other species, with only C. satoi Asahina, 1997, which has a very different (simple) form of genital ligula, having similar appendages in lateral view.
Remarks. All males of the species were found perching at shady seepages in dense tropical rain forest. In the large range surveyed in the Tongbiguan Reserve the species was only found in one location where it occurred at a very low density. Males perched less than half meter above water and when disturbed they flew higher and perched on tree leaves. The species appears to prefer the wet season, the rainy season in western Yunnan begins in May and the rain is heavy in June. In surveys made in August no individuals were found and it appears that the species has a short flight period from the end of May to July. This seems to be a rare species confined to good quality forest. Other species co-occurring with C. tongbiguan include the recently discovered Echo candens Zhang, Hämäläinen & Cai, 2015, the rare Echo margarita Selys, 1853 and Yunnanosticta Dow & Zhang, 2018 spp. The type locality is close to the border with Myanmar so that the species is very likely to occur in that country as well as Yunnan.
description: Published as part of Dow, Rory A. & Zhang, Hao-Miao, 2020, Two new species of Coeliccia Kirby from Yunnan, China (Odonata: Zygoptera Platycnemididae), pp. 491-502 in Zootaxa 4838 (4) on pages 492-493, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4838.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4405395