Argia sertaneja Vilela & Jacques & Souza 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Vilela, Diogo Silva
name: Jacques, Gabriel De Castro
name: Souza, Marcos Magalhães De
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Odonata
Coenagrionidae
Argia
Argia sertaneja

description: Argia sertaneja sp. nov. Vilela & Souza
Figs. 1a (lateral view of habitus, ♂ holotype); 1b–c (♂ and ♀ lateral view of habitus, paratypes); 2 (♂ holotype wings); 3a (genital ligula of ♂ holotype); 3b–d (genital ligula of ♂ paratype); 3e–f (anal appendages of ♂ holotype); 3g –j (anal appendages of ♂ paratype); 4 (♀ hind lobe of prothorax and mesostigmal plate, paratype); 5 (e–f, live ♂ paratype).
Argia sp.: Oliveira et al. 2024: 175, 178–179 (mentioned as a possible new species; ♂ live photo and scanned habitus).
Holotype. ♂ BRAZIL, Minas Gerais state, Chapada Gaúcha, Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, Vereda lodging, 15.iv.2023, (15°11’14.7” S, 45°41’01.7” W, 807 m asl), M.M. Souza leg., Coleção Biológica de Vespas Sociais — CBVS.
Paratypes. 2♂♂, 4♀♀ same as holotype, but 2♂♂, 1♀ at RWG; 3♂♂, 2♀♀ same as holotype, but: 1.ii.2023, T.P. Gouvêa, M.L.S. Simões, M.M. Souza leg., CBVS; 1♂ Córrego da onça, 5.ix.2022 (15°07’08” S, 45°43’50” W, 707 m asl), M.M. Souza leg., CBVS; 4♂♂, 2♀♀ Vereda Rio Preto, 5.xi.2022, (15°10’48” S, 45°46’10” W, 707 m asl), M.M. Souza, L. Milani, G.C. Jacques, J.B. Carvalho leg., CBVS, 1♀, 1♂ at RWG; 2♂♂ Lagoa Marginal Rio Preto, 8.xi.2022, (15°07’16” S, 45°44’22” W, 704 m asl), M.M. Souza leg., CBVS.
Etymology. Named “ sertaneja ”, a tribute to its origin from the “Sertão”, which is a term commonly used to depict extensive wilderness regions in Brazil, distant from the coastline and major urban areas. This name also pays homage to the type locality, the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park.
Description of holotype
Largely black species with orange markings (brown in preserved material hereafter noted as pale) and blue S9–10.
Head (Fig. 1a). Labrum, ante- and postclypeus pale; labium, genae and base of mandibles pale; ante- and postfrons black; two pale triangular spots diagonal to each lateral ocellus; epicranium black interrupted by large pale postocular spots, their lateral margins not confluent with eyes; remainder including rear of head black.
Thorax (Fig. 1a). Prothorax black, with the following pale areas: thin stripe on dorsal pronotal lobe; circular spots on each middle lobe; lateral edges of hind lobe. Pterothorax with a thick black middorsal stripe, antehumeral stripe pale; mesepimeron and most of mesinfraepisternum black; small brown spot on posterior portion of mesepimeron and lower half of mesinfraepisternum; upper 2/3 of metepisternum pale, with an indentation on dorsal 2/3, remainder black; metathoracic spiracle brown; metinfraepisternum black anteriorly and pale posteriorly; metepimeron pale, ventral pterothorax pale; pro-coxa black, meso and meta with orange markings; trochanters black, with pale medial spots; femora, tibiae, and tarsi black.
Wings (Fig. 2). Hyaline, venation dark brown; Pt dark brown with white contours, surmounting 1.2 cells in all wings; 13 Px in Fw, 12 in Hw; 3 Pq cells in Fw and Hw; RP2 at Fw 7, Hw 6.
Abdomen (Fig. 1a). Mostly black, except for: S1, with a thick “⅃” shaped pale spot on each side; pear-shaped pale dorsobasal spot, and ventrolateral indented stripes on S2; pale basal ring and ventrolateral stripe on S3; S4– 8 each with pale colored basal ring and ventrolateral stripe; dorsolateral areas of S9–10 pale (blue in the alive individual).
Genital ligula (Fig. 3a). Single unbranched ligula with a strap-like flagellum, tapering towards the apex; lateral lobes small, digitiform and not well developed (as in Fig. 3b); a parallel patch of microsetae immediately below the sclerotized shaft on each side (as in Fig. 3a–b).
Torus and anal appendages (Figs. 3e–f). Torus transversely linear, occupying ventral margin of torifer, epiproct bilobed. In dorsal view (as in Figs. 3e–f), cercus roughly rectangular, outer branch with rounded apex, inner branch widely expanded as a plate-like structure, ending in an acute tooth (appearing as a rounded lobe in posterior view); in mediodorsal view (as in Figs. 3f), plate-like outer branch bears a deep medial concavity; inner branch narrow and elongate (Fig. 3f). Paraprocts subquadrangular with a slight concavity, better seen in lateral and mediolateral views; in lateral view, ventral and dorsal branch cylindrical, subequal in length.
Measurements. Fw: 18.9; Hw: 18.2; abdomen: 25.2; total length: 31.5.
Description of ♀ paratype
Head (Fig. 1b). As in male but differs as follows: pale areas bluish or light brown; anteclypeus black, except for light blue spots laterally and medial spot; occipital bar interrupted medially.
Thorax (Figs. 1b, 4a–d). Prothorax with more extensive pale areas; anterior pronotal lobe with a transverse light blue stripe, and light brown lateral spots; medial lobe with two large spots; propleuron largely pale; hind lobe with a well-developed slightly underlying lateral lobe (Fig. 4d). Mesostigmal lobes small (Figs. 4a–c), slightly erected posteriorly with a small depression posterior to each lobe. Pterothorax with a black middorsal stripe, antehumeral stripe light brown; mesepimeron mostly light blue, except for narrow hook-shaped black humeral stripe occupying upper two thirds of thorax and medially narrowing to a thin line; ventral fifth of mesepimeron with a disjunct quadrate black spot contiguous with black on mesinfraepisternum; mesinfraepisternum with a small posterior light blue spot; remainder of pterothorax light blue, except for a thin black stripe on the metathoracic suture; coxae and trochanters pale; flexor surfaces of femora pale, otherwise black; tibiae with extensor surfaces pale, otherwise black, armature black, tarsi light brown.
Wings. Hyaline, venation dark brown; Pt pale brown, surmounting 1 cell in all wings; 13 Px in Fw, 12 in Hw; 3 Pq cells in Fw and Hw; RP2 at Fw 6, Hw 6.
Abdomen (Fig. 1b). As in male, with more extensive pale areas on S1, S2 and S3; dorsal S9 dorsolaterally with an inverted comma-shaped blue spot; a light blue spot dorsolaterally on S10.
Measurements. Fw: 19.2; Hw: 18.8; abdomen: 23.7; total length: 31.
Variation in paratypes (Figs. 1b–c; 3b–d; 3g –j). ♂ paratypes vary in color intensity when compared with holotype, probably due to age. One ♂ paratype has a more or less complete pale occipital bar and a bluish coloration on the metepimeron, instead of brown. ♀ paratypes also present a certain degree of color differences with one ♀ paratype resembling the ♂ with pale brown. All ♀ paratypes agree in morphology with the ♀ paratype used for the description. Paratypes (Fig. 3g) differ from the holotype on the length of cercus inner branch, which is longer on the holotype (Fig. 3f).
Diagnosis. The morphology of the male cerci is unique and easily differentiate this species from others. The pale coloration (orange in life) also separates males from any sympatric congeners. Argia sertaneja is morphologically close to the recently discovered A. koroivarum Vilela, 2023 in Vilela, Guillermo-Ferreira & Koroiva, 2023. ♂ and ♀ A. sertaneja possess unique morphological structures allowing for separation from A. koroivarum (A. koroivarum in parenthesis): outer branch of ♂ cercus widely expanded in a plate-like structure, forming a deep medial concavity (outer branch of ♂ cercus not plate-like, narrow and not forming a deep concavity); dorsal branch of ♂ paraproct short (dorsal branch of ♂ paraproct long and curved anterodorsally); hind lobe of ♀ prothorax with a well-developed slightly underlying lateral lobe (hind lobe of ♀ prothorax slightly convex, lacking developed lateral lobes).
Distribution and ecology. Argia sertaneja was collected in palm swamp (i.e. veredas) environments within the protected area of GSVNP (Figs. 5a–d, 6). This environment is characterized by its permanently wet soil and slow running waters (Vilela et al. 2016). Some species of Argia are known to inhabit such swampy locations include A. bicellulata (Calvert, 1909) and A. angelae Vilela, Guillermo-Ferreira, Del-Claro & Cordero-Rivera, 2018. So far, A. sertaneja is only known to occur in the GSVNP, however it is possible that its distribution surpasses the park limits and expands to the nearby veredas. Thus, it is important to conduct further research in the surrounding still unexplored areas to better understand the distribution of A. sertaneja and other odonate species, possibly revealing more new species. Other Argia species collected at the same locality include A. bicellulata, A. botacudo Calvert, 1909, A. modesta Selys, 1865, A. lilacina Selys, 1865, A. reclusa Selys, 1865, A. smithiana Calvert, 1909, A. tamoyo Calvert, 1909 and A. tinctipennis Selys, 1865.
description: Published as part of Vilela, Diogo Silva, Jacques, Gabriel De Castro & Souza, Marcos Magalhães De, 2024, Argia sertaneja sp. nov. (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) from Northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil, pp. 125-133 in Zootaxa 5471 (1) on pages 126-130, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5471.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/12189854