Habrophlebia dakkii El Alami, Sartori & Vuataz, 2023

Alami, Majida El, Vuataz, Laurent, Yaagoubi, Sara El & Sartori, Michel, 2025, Integrative taxonomy of the genus Habrophlebia Eaton, 1881 in Morocco (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae): new species, redescriptions, and morphological-mitochondrial discrepancies, Zootaxa 5642 (5), pp. 401-426 : 415-416

Habrophlebia dakkii El Alami, Sartori & Vuataz, 2023

Figs 9C–D , 12C

Material examined (not type material). 1 nymph in ethanol ( GBIFCH01123077 ), 2 nymphs on slide ( GBIFCH01118417 – GBIFCH01314688 ) MOROCCO, Tetouan Province, oued Assemlil, 5°15'33''N, 5°25'58''W, 1068 m ,, 20.VI.2022, S El Yaagoubi leg.; 9 nymphs in ethanol GBIFCH01123078 ), 2 nymphs on slide ( GBIFCH01550986 – GBIFCH01550987 ), Tetouan Province, oued Hamma, 35°23'23''N, 5°29'58''W, 200 m., 24.IV.2024, S. El Yaagoubi, Y. El Kourchi & M. Sartori leg.; 19 nymphs in ethanol ( GBIFCH01123079 ), 1 nymph on slide ( GBIFCH01550993 ), Tetouan Province, oued Taida, 35°22'06''N, 5°32'15''W, 510 m., 24.IV.2024, S. El Yaagoubi, Y. El Kourchi & M. Sartori leg.; 9 nymphs in ethanol ( GBIFCH01123080 ), 1 nymph on slide ( GBIFCH01550997 ), Tetouan Province, oued Tisgris, 35°22'05''N, 5°32'04''W, 500 m., 24.IV.2024, S. El Yaagoubi, Y. El Kourchi & M. Sartori leg. (all MZL) .

Additions to the egg description

In the original description, only a light microscope picture was presented ( Fig. 9C and El Alami et al. 2023, fig. 8). The real structure of the egg, revealed by SEM ( Fig. 9D ), shows that the chorion is not “regularly decorated by numerous and small granulations”, but by a dense mesh of adhesive layer, leaving only small “holes”, which were interpreted under light microscopy as “granulations”.

Morphologically intermediate forms

Based on five key diagnostic characters (number and size of denticles on claw; shape and size of posterior spines on abdominal segment VII; shape and size of bristles on hind tibia; number of filaments on upper and lower lamellae of gills II– VI; egg chorionic structure), an important proportion of the examined specimens from the Rif region presented intermediate morphological characteristics between Habrophlebia dakkii and H. abietis sp. nov., then H. dakkii and H. linae sp. nov., as well as H. abietis sp. nov. and H. linae sp. nov. ( Fig. 13 ).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Habrophlebia spp., egg structure in optical microscopy (A, B, C, E) and scanning electronic microscopy (D, F, G). A–B, Habrophlebia abietis sp. nov. C–D, Habrophlebia dakkii El Alami, Sartori & Vuataz, 2023. E-G, Habrophlebia linae sp. nov. from Madissouka (E, F) and oued Stah (G).

FIGURE 12. Habrophlebia spp., setae on hind tibia (outer margin up, inner margin down). A, Habrophlebia abietis sp. nov. B, Habrophlebia linae sp. nov. C, Habrophlebia dakkii El Alami, Sartori & Vuataz, 2023. D, Habrophlebia vaillantorum Thomas, 1986. E, Habrophlebia eldae Jacob & Sartori, 1984. F, Habrophlebia lauta McLachlan, 1884. Scale bar: 50 µm.

FIGURE 13. Bayesian (BEAST) maximum clade credibility COI tree of the genus Habrophlebia in the West Palearctic. Branch tips labelled with GBIF codes indicate newly sequenced specimens; the other codes correspond to sequences obtained from various sources (see Materials and methods). Brown vertical boxes indicate species delimitation hypothesis (MOTUs) based on the ASAP, mPTP, and GMYC methods. Species names (where available) and the country (-region) of origin are shown adjacent to their respective clades, with the two newly described species and their associated GBIF codes highlighted in bold. For specimens from the Rif region (the two upper clades), squares to the right represent five key morphological characters (claw: number of denticles on tarsal claw; tergite: shape and size of posterior spines on abdominal segment VII; tibia: shape and size of bristles on hind tibia; gill: number of filaments on upper and lower lamellae of gills II–VI; egg: egg chorionic structure), colorcoded to reflect species affiliation (light green: Habrophlebia abietis sp. nov.; dark green: H. linae sp. nov.; blue: H. dakkii). The “composite clade” (highlighted in red) comprises specimens of H. abietis sp. nov., H. linae sp. nov., H. dakkii, and their morphologically intermediate forms (i.e., putative hybrids, represented by squares of different colors on the same line). Circles on branches indicate Bayesian posterior probabilities> 0.9. Outgroup branches are presented in grey with their corresponding labels and genus name.