Alainites neeru Sohil & Srinivasan & Sivaruban & Barathy & Gattolliat & Sharma 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sohil, Asha
name: Srinivasan, Pandiarajan
name: Sivaruban, T.
name: Barathy, S.
name: Gattolliat, Jean-Luc
name: Sharma, Neeraj
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Ephemeroptera
Baetidae
Alainites
Alainites neeru

description: Alainites neeru sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: EEF55E8C-1879-442B-B751-F8F51A03E1CF
Figs 1–36
Diagnosis
Larval diagnostic characters of Alainites neeru sp. nov. are as follows: (1) ventral surface of labrum with eight to ten small, pointed setae, increasing in size towards apex (Fig. 6); (2) right mandible with about four medium stout, pointed spine-like setae between prostheca and mola (Figs 12–13); (3) margin between prostheca and mola of left mandible slightly crenelate near the mola (Fig. 10); (4) labial palp segment III conical, apically slightly pointed (Fig. 16); (5) outer margin of fore tibia with a row of seven to nine stout, spine-like setae only on the distal half (Fig. 23); (6) hindwing pads well-developed (Fig. 28); (7) tergalii present on abdominal segments I–VII, with poorly visible tracheation (Fig. 32) and (8) distal margin of paraproct between prolongation and cercotractor with about 6–8 long, triangular spines (Fig. 36).
Etymology
The species is named after the type locality Neeru stream, Jammu and Kashmir.
Material examined
Holotype
INDIA • ♀, larva; Jammu and Kashmir, Doda District, Bhaderwah Town, Neeru Stream; 33°01.17′ N, 75°39.46′ E; 1400 m a.s.l.; 10 Oct. 2020; Asha Sohil leg.; AMC (AMC/ZN/271).
Paratypes
INDIA • 3 larvae; same collection data as for holotype; AMC (AMC/ZN/272).
Description
Larva
MEASUREMENTS. Body length 4.1–4.3 mm; paracercus length 1.2–1.4 mm; cerci length 1.6–1.7 mm.
COLOURATION. General colouration reddish brown in mature larva and light brown in immature larva (Figs 1–2). Head dark brown. Prothorax and mesothorax dark brown laterally, and pale medially. Legs pale with brownish stripe at distal ⅔ area of femora. Abdominal terga unicolor and light brown (Fig. 2). Abdominal sterna light brown. Cerci and paracercus light brown (Fig. 2).
HEAD. Antennae close to each other (Fig. 3). Labrum (Fig. 4): dorsal surface with submarginal arc consisting of central seta, and two lateral setae (Fig. 5). Ventral surface with eight to ten small, pointed setae, increasing in size towards apex, close to lateral margin (Fig. 6); distal margin fringed with two types of setae: laterally with nine to ten long, feathered setae, and medially with twenty to twenty-two shorter, slightly feathered setae. Hypopharynx: lingua rounded, and superlinguae subapically with numerous hair-like setae. Left mandible (Fig. 7): incisor with seven denticles; prostheca with eight small pointed denticles apically (Fig. 9); margin between prostheca and mola, slightly crenelated near the mola (Fig. 10); fine setae present on apex of mola. Right mandible (Fig. 8): incisor with eight denticles (Fig. 11); prostheca bifid and feathered, outer filament half the length of inner filament; margin between prostheca and mola with about four medium stout, pointed, spine-like setae, near prostheca (Figs 12–13); tuft of setae at apex of mola present. Maxilla (Fig. 17): galea-lacinia with three broad teeth and tooth-like dentiseta along with two long, slender, dentisetae (Fig. 18); two, thin setae at base of teeth, row of five long, simple setae at base of lacinia; maxillary palpus two-segmented; segments I and II subequal in length; segment II apically rounded with fine, small, hair-like setae. Labium (Fig. 14): glossa slightly shorter than paraglossa; inner margin of glossae with row of 9–10 setae; paraglossae falcate, dorsally with three long, simple setae near inner margin and three oblique rows of simple setae along apical margin (Fig. 15); labial palpus three-segmented, segment I shorter than segments II and III combined; segment I covered with fine, simple setae; segment II with dorsal oblique row of three long, pointed setae; segment III conical and apex slightly pointed with small to medium, simple setae (Fig. 16).
THORAX. Hindwing pads well developed (Fig. 28).
FORELEG. Femur (Fig. 19): outer margin with a row of twelve to fourteen long, robust setae and with fine, simple setae; inner margin with numerous small, pointed setae; femoral villopore absent. Tibia (Fig. 22): outer margin with row of seven to nine stout, spine-like setae on distal half (Fig. 23); inner margin with three irregular rows of small, pointed setae (Fig. 24); dorsal surface with numerous scale bases, with few short, stout, spine-like setae along tibia-patellar suture. Tarsi, outer margin with few thin setae; inner margin with row of 10 small, pointed setae, increasing in size towards apex; dorsal surface with numerous scale bases. Claws (Fig. 27) with a row of 8–9 denticles, increasing in size towards apex; subapical setae absent.
MIDDLE LEG AND HIND LEG. Similar to foreleg (Figs 20–21, 25–26); except inner margin of hind femur lacks small, pointed setae (Fig. 21); outer margin of middle and hind tibia with row of ca 10 stout spine-like setae (Figs 25–26).
ABDOMEN. Tergites with numerous scale bases (Fig. 29), posterior margin of tergites II–X with triangular spines mainly in middle area (Fig. 33), and absent laterally (Fig. 30). Tergalii (= abdominal gills) present on segments I to VII with poorly visible tracheation; tergalius I elongated and ⅓ length of tergalius IV (Fig. 31); tergalii II to VII elliptical with dark brownish band surrounding margins; margins serrated along with long, fine setae (Fig. 32). Paraproct (Figs 34–35) with numerous scale bases and micropores on dorsal surface; well-developed prolongation on distal margin (Fig. 35); distal margin between prolongation and cercotractor with about 6–8 long, triangular spines (Fig. 36); distal margin outside of prolongation with about 40 small, triangular spines; cercotractor with numerous scale bases, distal margin with about 20 spines.
Imago
Unknown.
Distribution
India, Neeru stream (Doda, Jammu and Kashmir).
description: Published as part of Sohil, Asha, Srinivasan, Pandiarajan, Sivaruban, T., Barathy, S., Gattolliat, Jean-Luc & Sharma, Neeraj, 2023, First record of the genus Alainites Waltz & McCafferty, 1994 (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) from India with the description of a new species from the North-western Himalayas, pp. 161-174 in European Journal of Taxonomy 910 on pages 163-170, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.910.2367, http://zenodo.org/record/10370374