Capnia, Cao & Li

Cao, Zhishan, Cao, Jinjun, Yang, Ding, Li, Weihai & Murányi, Dávid, 2025, Integrative taxonomy of the Capnia cordata species group (Plecoptera: Capniidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 1012, pp. 81-105 : 92-95

C. s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Figs 1 , 9–10 , 11C , 12D–E

Diagnosis

The male of this new species differs markedly from that of most other members of the C. cordata species group by its straight process of tergum IX and the long and narrow triangular epiproct sclerite with the ventral and dorsal edges slightly but evenly convex in lateral view.

Etymology

The specific epithet ‘ huanglong ’ is derived from the Huanglong Scenic Spot, where the new species was found and probably restricted to these places and the nearby ranges. Used as a noun, gender neutral.

Material examined

Holotype

CHINA • ♂; Sichuan Province, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture , Songpan County, Huanglong Scenic Spot ; 103°49′32.52″ E, 32°44′55.68″ N; 3550 m a.s.l.; 2 Aug. 2011; Si-Pei Liu and Wei-Hai Li leg.; HIST.

Description

Male

ADULT HABITUS ( Figs 2–3 ). Body generally dark brown. Body length 8.9 mm. Forewing length 10.3 mm, hindwing length 8.0 mm. Macropterous. Wing venation typical for species group. Head slightly wider than pronotum, with three pale and small ocelli, M-line and tentorial callosities dark brown. Antennae and palpi brown. Pronotum trapezoid with dark rugosities, corner obtuse. Legs brown; femora darker. Cerci with clubbed segments, each with apical whorl of long hairs; apical part of cerci broken in holotype.

ABDOMEN ( Figs 9A , 10 , 11C , 12D–E ). Terga I–IV medially divided by membranous portion; antecosta medially divided on terga II–IV and X, medially indenting but entire on terga V–IX; short, medial longitudinal band projecting from antecosta on terga VIII–IX. Tergum IX strongly sclerotized, posterior edge nearly straight in dorsal view, process elevated and triangular in lateral view, with two small sclerotized teeth projecting into small membranous patch. Tergum X subdivided by widely rounded anteromedial indentation. Sternum I entire and unmodified; sternum II with anterior sclerites not fused with posterior sclerite, lateral sclerites lacking; sterna III–VIII with anterior and lateral sclerites, all fused with posterior sclerite ( Fig. 11C ). Sternum IX fused with tergum IX anterolaterally; subgenital plate divided from other sclerites and subtriangular, with darkly sclerotized lateral margins; vesicle elliptical and medium-sized, covered with numerous long hairs, posteriorly reaching ⅓ of subgenital plate. Paraprocts with long and wide apex, fusion plate long and narrow ( Fig. 10 ). Epiproct consists of large basal sclerite fused with small, triangular laterobasal sclerites; main epiproct sclerite 0.6 mm in length, long and narrowly triangular in dorsal view, both ventral and dorsal edge slightly but evenly convex in lateral view. Dorsal division of main epiproct sclerite slightly dilated in apical third, widely opens after NaOH treatment; basal portion darkly sclerotized with raised subtriangular structure in dorsal aspect; basal fork small, fused with laterobasal sclerites; apex pointed but its tip blunt in both lateral and dorsal aspects; sclerite bald besides few apical sensillae; inner sclerite long but thin and indistinct ( Figs 10 , 12D–E ).

Female

Unknown.

Distribution

China: Sichuan Province. Presently only known from Huanglong Scenic Spot.

Remarks

The new species is closely related to C. s. lat. manii , but can be separated by the tip of the main epiproct sclerite, which is more pointed in the latter. Furthermore, C. s. lat. manii has a vestigial ventral vesicle, in contrast to the normally developed vesicle found in the new species. The main epiproct sclerite of C. s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov. is also different from that of other Chinese species within the C. s. lat. cordata species group: in C. s. lat. yunnana , the main epiproct sclerite has a swollen apex; in C. s. lat. qilianshana , the main epiproct sclerite has a rounded tip and its subapical area is slightly swollen; in C. s. lat. oblata , the main epiproct sclerite has a flattened apex; in C. s. lat. xiei , the main epiproct sclerite is high and has a basal bilamellar structure, while these characteristics are absent in C. s. lat. huanglong.

Molecular analysis

To characterize in detail the species limits within the C. cordata species group, we consider morphological characters and mitochondrial marker Cox 1, under a phylogenetic analysis. The aligned data matrix was 651 base pairs (bp) in length. The best fit substitution model TNe+I: CO1_p1, F81+F: CO1_p2, TN+F+G4: CO1_p3 was selected for this concatenated data matrix. The Maximum Likelihood tree supported the morphological distinction of C. s. lat. bispina Cao & Li sp. nov. and the separation from the other species of the C. cordata species group with 100% nodal support ( Fig. 14 ). Interspecific divergence values for C. s. lat. bispina ranged from 5.03–19.44% of genetic divergence in comparison with the other species whereas intraspecific between an associated male-female pair was only 0.31% ( Table 3 ). Combined, this is good evidence for the validity of C. s. lat. bispina ( Hebert et al. 2003; Zhou et al. 2009). Meanwhile, from the analyses we demonstrated that C. s. lat. bispina is a member of the C. cordata species group. Unfortunately, the specimen of C. s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov. was 14 years old, and failed to be sequenced successfully.

Figures

Fig. 1. Distribution of the Capnia cordata species group.

Fig. 9. Capnia s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov., ♂, holotype (HIST). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, dorsal view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 10. Capnia s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov., ♂, holotype (HIST). A. Terminalia, dorsal view. B. Terminalia, lateral view. C. Terminalia, ventral view. D. Terminalia after treatment with 10% NaOH, dorsal view. E. Terminalia after treatment with 10% NaOH, lateral view. F. Terminalia after treatment with 10% NaOH, ventral view. Scale bars: A–C = 1 mm; D–F = 0.5 mm.

Fig. 11. Abdominal sclerites of Capnia s. lat. bispina Cao & Li sp. nov. and Capnia s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov. A. Capnia s. lat. bispina, ♀, paratype (HIST). B. Capnia s. lat. bispina, ♂, holotype (HIST). C. Capnia s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov., ♂, holotype (HIST).

Fig. 12. A–B. Male genitalia of Capnia s. lat. bispina Cao & Li sp. nov., holotype (HIST). A. Dorsal view of epiproct. B. Lateral view of epiproct. C. Female terminalia of Capnia s. lat. bispina, paratype (HIST), ventral view. D–E. Male genitalia of Capnia s. lat. huanglong Cao & Li sp. nov., holotype (HIST). D. Dorsal view of epiproct. E. Lateral view of epiproct. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 2. Capnia s. lat. bispina Cao & Li sp. nov. A. Holotype, ♂ (HIST), habitus, dorsal view. B. Paratype, ♀ (HIST), habitus, dorsal view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 3. Capnia s. lat. bispina Cao & Li sp. nov., ♂, holotype (HIST). A. Forewing, dorsal view. B. Hindwing, dorsal view. Abbreviations: A1 = first anal vein; M = Media Vein; R1 = first radial vein. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 14. Phylogenetic relationships among sequenced specimens based on a Maximum Likelihood tree analysis. Numbers at the nodes represent bootstrap values as percentages. Only nodal support values>70% are depicted on the tree. The species delimitation methods are identified by ABGD; ASAP; bPTP. The coloured bars represent the results of the species delimitation method.