Protosticta khasia Joshi & Sarkar & Sawant & Pawar & Kunte 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Joshi, Shantanu
name: Sarkar, Vivek
name: Sawant, Dattaprasad
name: Pawar, Ujwala
name: Kunte, Krushnamegh
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Platystictidae
Protosticta
Protosticta khasia

description: Protosticta khasia sp. nov. Joshi & Sarkar
(Figs. 6–9)
Material examined
Holotype. 1 ♂ (IBC-BX521), Maraikaphon, Cherrapunjee, East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya, India (25.2784 N 91.7226 E, 1393 m ASL), 26.v.2017, Vivek Sarkar leg.
Paratype. 1 ♀ (IBC-BX522), same location, date, and collector as the holotype.
Etymology. The species epithet ‘khasia’ is derived from the noun “Khasi” which refers to members of a Scheduled Tribe from northeastern India and parts of Bangladesh. We dedicate this species to the Khasi people for their active role in restoring and conserving habitats (e.g., Poffenberger 2015).
Description of holotype
(Fig. 6)
Head (Figs. 6a–b). Eyes dark olive green. Median lobe of labium pale brown, lateral lobes dark brown, pointed at the apices anteriorly, ventrally labium covered by brown setae, posterior-ventral surface with a pale blue spot; lower one-fourth of labrum black, rest turquoise blue, anteclypeus turquoise blue; mandibles black; postclypeus, antefrons and postfrons black; antefrons and postfrons with a bronze metallic sheen. Antennal base dark brown, apical half dirty white; pedicel lower half dirty yellow, upper half dark brown; flagellum broken. Vertex and occipital area black with metallic green sheen; median ocellus creamy-white.
Thorax (Figs. 6a, c). Prothorax: propleuron black, anterior lobe yellow with a black band medially; median lobe black medially, lateral lobes dark brown; anterior half of posterior lobe black, posterior half dark brown medially, lateral lobes dark brown, extending laterally, slightly triangular at apex. Pterothorax black with metallic green sheen on the dorsum, ventral half extensively marked with yellow as follows; anterior carina and mesothoracic stigma of mesostigmal plate dark brown. Mesepimeron marked with pale blue stripe at mesopleural ridge, extending from posterior to anterior end reaching till two-thirds of its length tapering and pointed anteriorly; metepisternum marked yellow broadly from anterior end reaching about 3/4 th of its length; metathoracic spiracle yellow, metepisternum brown below the metathoracic spiracle extending posteriorly; lower 1/3 rd of mesinfraepisternum yellow, rest black; mesocoxa, metacoxa, metinfraepisternum, metepimeron, yellow; venter of metathorax yellow tipped with black at the posterior end. Legs: yellow, minute black spot posteriorly at the base of prothoracic coxae, posterior surface of femur dark brown, tibia dark brown with a thin yellow stripe anteriorly, tarsus and claws dark brown. Legs covered with minute brown setae throughout and large black setae laterally.
Wings. Hyaline; Pt dark brown and rhomboid, as long as 1 cell below, slightly larger in FW. Ax 2 in all wings; Px 16 in right & 17 in left FW, 16 in HW.
Abdomen (Fig. 6a). Black marked with yellow. Ventral half of S1–2 yellow except dark brown tergites, anterior border of S2 with a thin yellow annule dorsally, S3–7 with yellow annules at the anterior border, broader sequentially. S8 and S9 with basal bright markings laterally, tapering downwards and larger on S8, ‘M’ shaped turquoise blue marking dorsally at the posterior border of S9.
Genital ligula (Figs. 6g –h). Ligula curved midway in lateral view, junction of apical segments with two rounded flaps laterally with a tuft of hair at apices; apical segment furnished with a hood bifurcating into two broad arms. The two arms thinner at apices, apex club shaped.
Caudal appendages (Figs. 6d–f). Cerci black at base, paler brown towards apices and internally. Cerci broader at base folded inwards, excavated midway, strongly bent downwards, ending in knob-shaped apices, outer margin with dense setae. Paraproct dark brown with small but conspicuous basal spine at the upper margin, apices bifurcated into two arms, the outer arm about twice as thick as the inner arm, curved in and upwards, blunt at apices. Inner arm thin and curved, with pointed apices.
Measurements. Abdomen + caudal appendages = 38.5, FW = 26.8–27.1, HW = 29.8–30.
Description of paratype
(Fig. 7)
Head (Figs. 7a–b). Labium brown, lateral lobes pointed outward; upper 3/4 th of labrum turquoise blue, rest black; anteclypeus turquoise blue; anterior half of mandibles turquoise blue, rest of the face black with metallic sheen. Scapus black, apical 1/5 th yellow; lower half of pedicel yellow, rest black; flagellum broken; vertex black; eyes olive green, bluish green in situ; median ocelli brown, appear creamy white at some angles.
Thorax (Figs. 7a, c). Prothorax: propleuron dark brown; anterior lobe yellow marked with a black dorsal stripe medially similar to male, median lobe dark brown with variegated yellow markings on lateral lobes; posterior lobe brown, lateral margins yellowish-brown. Pterothorax: mesepisternum and mesepimeron black with metallic green sheen; dorsal carina with fine yellow marking along both sides on mesepisternum; mesepimeron with a faint blue marking at the humeral suture, broader posteriorly, tapering and reaching about 1⁄2 its length anteriorly; metepisternum broadly yellow anteriorly, brown posteriorly; metathoracic spiracle black; metepimeron and venter yellow with a blue tinge at the posterior end; lower 1/4 th of mesinfraepisternum yellow, rest dark brown; metinfraepisternum yellow except a brown band at the upper end covering about 1/5 th its length; coxae yellow. Legs: femur yellow, posteriorly dark brown with small variegated black markings; tibia dark brown, yellow anteriorly; tarsus and claws dark brown; legs covered with black setae laterally.
Wings. Hyaline, veins dark brown. Pt blackish-brown, larger in FW. Ax 2; Px 17 in FW and HW.
Abdomen (Fig. 7a). Dark brown, marked with yellow as follows: ventral half of S1–2 yellow, on S2 reaching about 1/5 th of the segment posteriorly; S2 with a small yellow marking dorsally at the anterior border; S3–7 with blueyellow crescent shaped rings at the anterior border, dorsal markings broader posteriorly, extended more ventrally; S8 marked yellow only ventrally at the anterior border; S9–10 unmarked.
Caudal appendages (Fig. 7d–f). Cerci triangular, curved and sharply pointed at apices. Ovipositor black, broader at base, laterally dark brown. Style brown; terebra posteriorly pointed, short, grayish brown.
Measurements. Abdomen + caudal appendages = 40.2, FW = 26.9–27, HW = 26.3–26.5.
Diagnosis
Male of this species can be distinguished at once from all its congeners by the unique shape of paraproct (deeply incised, wrench-shaped apices, inner arm curved slightly upwards, sharply pointed). The abdominal markings (S9 with a ‘M’ shaped blue marking on the dorsal margin) and markings of prothorax will help to distinguish both sexes from other Protosticta spp.
The only species in Northeast India that remotely resembles this new species in terms of caudal appendages is P. damacornu. From P. damacornu, P. khasia male can be distinguished by (a) shape of cerci (apices prominently bi-lobed in P. damacornu (Fig. 8)), (b) structure of paraproct (Fig. 8), (c) S9 with small dorsal blue marking or black (S9 completely blue in P. damacornu), and (d) markings of prothorax. From P. fraseri, the male differs widely by the thoracic and abdominal markings and the complex shape of paraproct (thin and pointed in P. fraseri). The dark thorax, marking on S9 along with the shape of paraproct will serve to distinguish P. khasia from all other congeners.
Female P. khasia can be distinguished from other Protosticta spp. by the markings of prothorax (anterior lobe yellow with a brown median stripe, medial lobe brown, posterior margin of posterior lobe pale blue) and abdominal markings (S1–2 laterally yellow, base of S8 with a yellow dorsal markings) (Fig. 9a).
Habitat and behavior
Two male individuals were observed> 5 m away from a small, shaded stream (Fig. 9b). The female was found farther away in the forest. Individuals were observed perching a few feet high on vegetation and had the tendency of flying up into the canopy when disturbed. This species was only observed along one stream despite extensive surveys in the neighboring areas.
description: Published as part of Joshi, Shantanu, Sarkar, Vivek, Sawant, Dattaprasad, Pawar, Ujwala & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2024, Description of Protosticta khasia sp. nov. and Yunnanosticta siangi sp. nov., with new records of P. samtsensis Gurung & Phan, 2023 from Northeast India (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae), pp. 348-370 in Zootaxa 5448 (3) on pages 356-361, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5448.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/11231707