Rhopalopsole gibba Yang & Du, 2025

Yang, Xiao & Du, Yu-Zhou, 2025, A new species of Rhopalopsole (Insecta, Plecoptera, Leuctridae) from the Anhui Province of China and phylogeny of Leuctridae based on mitochondrial genomes, ZooKeys 1244, pp. 147-158 : 147-158

Rhopalopsole gibba Yang & Du sp. nov.

Description.

Male. Body length 5.7–5.9 mm. Forewing length 5.4–5.5 mm, hindwing length 4.2–4.3 mm. Head dark brown, wider than pronotum; ocelli pale brown; antennae and palpi light brown. Pronotum brown, quadrate. Legs brown. Wings hyaline and veins light brown (Fig. 1 ).

Tergum 9 mostly sclerotized, somewhat less so on median circular area with two strong sclerotized marks. Sternum 9 basally with subcircular vesicle bearing dense hairs, apically with a comparatively longer subgenital plate. Tergum 10 bearing a large central plate covered laterally with macrotrichia and a mammillary process on both sides; middle strongly sclerotized part of the central plate with small round field of knobs. Transverse plates nearly triangular and less hairy with some seta. Lateral projections of tergum 10 long and sinuous. Epiproct thick at base, not tapering appreciably along its length ending in a downcast point. Subanal lobes large, narrow at base expanding distally, then narrowing to end. Cercus hairy and upcurved, with a small spine (Fig. 2 ).

Female. Unknown.

Egg and nymph. Unknown.

Type materials.

Holotype: • ♂, China: Anhui Province, Xuancheng City, Yaocun town , alt. 726 m, 30°53'24"N, 119°6'30"E, 2024-VI-13, leg. Huo Qing-bo and Zeng Liang-liang (Fig. 3 ) . Paratypes: • 4 ♂♂, same data as holotype .

Etymology.

The species name refers to the central plate with a small round field of gibba at the middle of the tergum 10.

Diagnosis and remarks.

The new species, Rhopalopsole gibba , is similar to members of the R. dentata group ( Sivec et al. 2008), particularly Rhopalopsole dicondylica Yang & Du, 2021 . The males share the similar shape of epiproct and the shape of the subanal lobes. In R. gibba , the cercus is hairy and upcurved, with a small spine and tergum 10 bears a large central plate covered laterally with macrotrichia and there is a mammillary process on both sides; the middle strongly sclerotized part of the central plate with small round field of knobs. However, in R. dicondylica , the cerci lack spines and the hind border of tergum 10 bears a large central plate covered laterally with microtrichia, and there is a mammillary process on both sides; the middle poorly sclerotized part of the central plate is triangular and rounded apically (Fig. 2 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Rhopalopsole gibba sp. nov. Male head and pronotum, dorsal view.

Figure 2. Rhopalopsole gibba sp. nov. A. Male terminalia, dorsal view; B. Male terminalia, lateral view; C. Male terminalia, ventral view.

Figure 3. Type locality of Rhopalopsole gibba: a stream in Yaocun town, Anhui Province, China (photo provided by Huo Qing-Bo).