Diplectrona spinata Banks
Creators: name: Wells, Alice
name: Contents, Arturs Neboiss Table Of
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Trichoptera
Hydropsychidae
Diplectrona
Diplectrona spinata

description: Diplectrona spinata (Banks)
(Figs 10–12, 21, 23, 28, 38–41, 47–48)
Sciops spinata Banks 1939, 493–494, pl. 3 fig. 31.
Diplectrona spinata; Neboiss 1986, 218.
Diplectrona bourina Mosely, in Mosely & Kimmins 1953, 345, fig. 239; Neboiss 1986, 218 (synonym).
Diplectrona cognata Kimmins, in Mosely & Kimmins 1953, 347, fig. 240. New synonym.
Material examined. Holotype Sciops spinata Banks ♂, Queensland, National Park, McPherson Range, 13.iii. 1932, 3– 4000 ft (ANIC ex MCZ 22088); holotype Diplectrona bourina Mosely ♂, SE Queensland, Tamborine Mtns, 11–18.iv.1935, R.E. Turner (BMNH); holotype ♂, Diplectrona cognata, New South Wales, Wentworth Falls, 24.xi.1916, R.J. Tillyard (BMNH); 1♂, Barrington Tops, Upper William River [PT-1835]. Queensland: 1♂, Springbrook, 11.iv.1955 [TRI-39496]; 1♂ 5♀, Springbrook, 31.x.1965, J. Kerr [PT-1034 ♂, PT- 1059 ♀]; 1♂, Queen Mary Falls, Killarney, 12.x.1973, A. Neboiss [PT-1033]; 2♂, Conondale Range, Bundaroo Creek, rainforest [TRI-39867, TRI-39868], 1.xii.1983, G. Cassis & D. Bickel. New South Wales: 2♂, Waterfall Royal National Park, 2.x.1985, A. Neboiss [TRI-1403, TRI-39987]. Victoria: 1♂, Snobs Creek Falls, 24.i.1956, A. Neboiss [PT-1098]; 2♂, Porepunkah, 27.i.1957, A. Neboiss; 2♂, Sassafras Gap nr Carmody’s, 4,600 ft, 30.i.1957, A. Neboiss; 1♂, McKay Creek, Sassafras Gap, 2.ii.1974, A. Neboiss; 7♂ 1♀, Agnes Falls, Agnes River, Toora, 2.xi.1977, A. Neboiss [PT-1094, PT-1054, PT-1055]; 4♂, Eurobin Falls, Mt Buffalo Road, 3.xii.1982, A. Neboiss; 2♂, White Bridge, Mt Buller Rd, 13.i.2016, D. Cartwright.
Diagnosis. Diplectrona spinata most closely resembles the New South Wales /Victorian D. inermis in most features of male genitalia, including spines and spicules distally on the phallic apparatus, but is distinguished from that species by having 2 very prominent dorsally curved phallic spines, in ventral view always parallel to the length of the phallic apparatus, and 2 smaller spines near the base, rather than the laterally directed spines seen in D. inermis.
Description (revised). Length of each forewing: ♂ 5.6–8.4 mm (n = 12), ♀ 7.7–10.8 mm (n = 5).
Male. Abdominal reticulate-walled internal sacs about 0.5 to 1.5x segment length; lateral filaments on sternite V short, about 0.5x length of segment.
Genitalia (Figs 10–12, 38–41): Abdominal segment IX not deeply concave laterally, dorsally fused partially with tergite X, midlateral margin projecting posterodorsad in triangular process, in lateral view appearing as triangular ‘phallic guide’; tergite X well developed, rounded apically, in dorsal view cleft apicomedially; gonopods slender, elongate, each with coxopodite swollen towards apex, length about 5x maximum width, harpago about 1/3 length of coxopodite, simple, curved mesad, tapered toward apex; phallic apparatus stout, one pair of prominent dorsolateral sclerotised spines, 2 short spines basal to larger pair, one small, short spine medially (See Fig. 40).
Female. Terminal abdomen (Figs 47–48) with sternite VIII in form of 2 discrete plates, their apicomesal angles broadly rounded, apicolateral angles sharply produced distally.
Distribution. Found in south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Improbably, the types of both D. inermis and D. cognata are from Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains of News South Wales, but are certainly distinct.
Remarks. As noted above, distinguishing between D. spinata and D. inermis is frequently difficult, as the critical features, the form and arrangement of phallic spines, is often difficult to discern without maceration and clearing of specimens. One specimen from the Barrington Tops in NSW [PT-1835] illustrated here (Fig. 38) and assigned tentatively to this species, could represent a separate species. In this specimen the harpagones resemble those of D. inermis, but the arrangement of the endothecal spines of the phallic apparatus resembles more closely that of D. spinata. Conceivably, it could be a hybrid.
description: Published as part of Wells, Alice & Contents, Arturs Neboiss Table Of, 2018, Australian Diplectroninae reviewed (Insecta: Trichoptera), with description of 21 new species, most referred to a new genus, pp. 1-44 in Zootaxa 4415 (1) on pages 10-14, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4415.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1241736