Neopanorpa chillcotti Byers 1971
Creators: name: Wang, Meng
name: Hua, Bao-Zhen
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Mecoptera
Panorpidae
Neopanorpa
Neopanorpa chillcotti

description: Neopanorpa chillcotti Byers, 1971
(Figs. 3–9)
Neopanorpa chillcotti Byers, 1971: 534, figs. 1–10; Rust & Byers, 1976: 45, figs. 27–34.
Specimens examined. 6♂, 5♀, CHINA: TIBET: Gyirong (28°23′N, 85°21′E, elev. 2750 m), 28.VII.2013, leg. Tao Li; 5♂, 3♀, NEPAL: KATHMANDU (27°41′N, 85°31′E, elev. 2150 m), 24.VII.2013, leg. Tao Li.
Diagnosis. Neopanorpa chillcotti can be readily recognized from its congeners by the following characters: body yellowish brown; vertex entirely blackish brown; wings strongly tinged with yellow; male abdomen prominently longer than wings; notal organ extended shortly beyond the posterior margin of tergum IV; hypovalves slender, widely divergent, elongated to the caudal end of gonocoxite, slightly expanded and convergent at tips; epandrium tapering to the tip, ended with a rounded apex; female superficially distinct with two black spots on the middle of each of terga III–V.
Redescription. Male (Fig. 3 A): Body yellowish brown. Vertex blackish brown (Fig. 4 A); rostrum long, slender, yellowish brown with two diffuse brown longitudinal stripes along the lateral margin and a cluster of setae along the inferior margin of clypeus (Fig. 4 A); mandibles reddish brown with three teeth, maxillary palpus and labial palpus brown, darkened at tips; antennal scape yellowish brown, pedicel blackish brown, flagellum blackish brown with 52 flagellomeres.
Thorax (Fig. 4 B) yellowish brown; pronotum black with short black setae along the anterior margin; meso- and metascutum yellowish brown with dense setae on scutum and scutellum; the lateral margin of mesoscutum bearing dense setae before pleural wing process; pleura and coxa whitish yellow, femur yellowish, darkened at tips, a cluster of short setae along the lateral margin of tibia, two long reddish spurs of equal length at the end of tibia; tarsus blackish brown with five tarsomeres, pretarsus with two claws; claws strongly curved with five pectinate teeth.
Wings (Figs. 3, 5, 6) slender and long, narrow at base, strongly tinged with yellow, wing markings dark brown; pterostigma dark yellow with dense setae; wing venation brown; vein Sc ending at the pterostigma; R2 threebranched; 1A ending before the origin of Rs (Fig. 5). Forewings with 5–7 jugal bristles, hind wings with 2–3 frenular bristles.
Wing markings are highly variable and can be categorized into four distinct types of wing patterns (Fig. 6). Type I (Fig. 6 A; 6♂, 2♀ from China and 3♂, 2♀ from Nepal) is the most common pattern. Other types of wing patterns are compared with type I. In the forewings of type I, the apical band is incomplete, ending posteriorly near M1, and with a projection prolonging posteriorly beyond R4; the pterostigmal band is Y-shaped, with the basal branch often interrupted at base and the apical branch complete; the basal spot is absent; the marginal spot is very small and vague, only extending to R4+5; the submedian band is faintly indicated by a spot between CuA and CuP.
Sometimes the marginal spot and submedian band are too obscure to be seen. Hind wings are similar to forewings, with only the apical band and pterostigmal band present. Type II (Fig. 6 B; 1♂, 2♀ from Nepal) is comparatively complete in wing pattern. In forewings, the pterostigmal band is complete; the apical band is complete with a hyaline window posterior to vein R5; the marginal spot and the submedian band are distinct. In hind wings the pterostigmal band is also complete; the apical band is notched at the inner-posterior corner with a small hyaline window between veins R2a2 and R3 (Fig. 6 B). Type III (2♀ from China) is very similar to type I, but in the forewings the basal branch of the pterostigmal band is complete, and the apical band has a small hyaline window between veins R2b and R3; in the hind wings an anterior and a posterior notch render the apical band anchor-shaped (Fig. 6 C). Type IV (1♂ from Nepal) is greatly reduced in its wing markings in that the basal branch of the pterostigmal band is almost absent, and the apical band is reduced to the apical area (Fig. 6 D).
Abdomen prominently longer than wings (Fig. 3 A); terga I–V sordid yellowish brown, corresponding sterna light yellow (Figs. 4 C–E); notal organ on tergum III broad at base, abruptly narrow near the middle of tergum IV and extending posterad beyond tergum IV; a minor flat projection (post-notal organ) on tergum IV with dense setae, projected forwards (Figs. 4 C–D); terga VI–VIII yellowish brown bordered with black pigment on pleurocaudal margin (Fig. 4 E), each of VI–VIII greatly elongated, about twice the length of segment V, segments VII and VIII constricted at base (Fig. 4 E).
Male genitalia yellowish brown, long elliptical (Figs. 7 A–B); gonostylus long and slender, concaved inwards at basal third, hook-like at tips; basal lobe large, bearing dense setae at apex; mesal tooth blunt with a minor triangular setiferous projection (Figs. 7 D–E); hypandrium (sternum IX) broad with a short basal stalk (Fig. 7 A); hypovalves slender, widely divergent at base, prolonged to the end of gonocoxite, apex slightly expanded and convergent, bearing numerous long setae (Figs. 7 A, C); epandrium (tergum IX) tapering apically, apex rounded, laterally bearing broad projections (epandrial lobes) concealed in the genital bulb (Figs. 7 B–C).
Aedeagus sclerotized (Fig. 8); ventral valve divided mesally and tapering downward to slender, membranous hirsute structure (Figs. 8 A–B); dorsal valve stout and indistinct (Figs. 8 A–B); dorsal process conspicuous, base expanded, laterally with a triangular protuberance, apically prolonged, slightly expanded and overlapped near apices (Figs. 8 A–C); lateral process distinct, apex acute, projecting ventroapically (Figs. 8 A–C); ventral paramere slender, elongated, composed of two distinct parts: the basal part, attached near base of lateral process, strongly sclerotized, rectangular, with two pointed apices posteriorly, and the distal part free, membranous, whitish, with minute pale hairs, passing ventral curved surface of lateral process and extending distad (Figs. 8 A, C).
Female (Fig. 3 B): Same coloration as in the male with the following supplements. Sterna I–VI yellowish brown, terga III–V sordid dark brown, each with a pair of small black spots in the middle, segments VII–X dark brown (Fig. 9 A); cerci blackish brown, two-segmented (Fig. 9 B). Subgenital plate yellowish brown, medially membranous, terminated with a deep V-shaped emargination at apex, dorsally with two rounded membranous processes contacting the genital plate (Figs. 9 C–D). Genital plate with axis slightly extended beyond the main plate; posterior arms well-developed, broad spatulate in the apical half (Fig. 9 E).
Measurements. Body length, male 22.38 ± 1.36 mm (n = 9); female 16.06 ± 2.30 mm (n = 7). Male (n = 11), forewing length 14.84 ± 0.89 mm, width 3.32 ± 0.32 mm; hind wing length 13.76 ± 0.86 mm, width 2.96 ± 0.32 mm. Female (n = 8), forewing length 15.12 ± 0.98 mm, width 3.29 ± 0.25 mm; hind wing length 14.04 ± 0.93 mm, width 3.05 ± 0.23 mm.
Distribution. China (Gyirong, Tibet); Nepal (Kathmandu).
Habitat. Gyirong in Tibet is adjacent to Nepal with an average elevation of 2600 m (Fig. 1). Rainfall occurs primarily between May and September, with more than 1000 mm precipitation annually. The landscape is conjoint with lush forests and deep ravines. Most adults were captured on low shrubs or shaded herbs at the edge of broadleaved forest mixed with coniferous trees (Fig. 2).
Remarks. This is the first record of N. chillcotti from Tibet, China since it was reported from Nepal by Byers (1971). Based on our observations of a series of specimens preserved in ethanol, several variations were found to differ from the original description. Firstly, a remarkable line of short black setae was observed along the anterior margin of the pronotum in our specimens (Fig. 4 B), conflicting with a lack of spines along the anterior margin given in the original description (Byers 1971). Additionally, possibly due to strong shrinkage of dry pinned specimens, the female subgenital plate and genital plate illustrated by Byers (1971) are narrower and more slender than those in our figures (Figs. 9 C–E).
Details of the postnotal organ are added as well because Byers (1971) only dealt with the process on tergum III. The anterior part of the aedeagus is not visible in the original illustration. Here we add illustrations of the aedeagus from different aspects (Figs. 8 A–C).
description: Published as part of Wang, Meng & Hua, Bao-Zhen, 2017, Discovery of Neopanorpa chillcotti Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) from Tibet, China, with discussion of its generic status, pp. 241-250 in Zootaxa 4232 (2) on pages 243-248, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4232.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/292818