Neoperla sjostedti cf. needhami, Klapalek, 1909

Zwick, Peter & Zwick, Andreas, 2023, Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data, Zootaxa 5316 (1), pp. 1-194 : 167

79. Neoperla sjostedti cf. needhami

( Fig. 457 )

Material studied. Republic of Cameroon, 8♀, 6°8’26.25’’N, 10°6’3-68’’ E, NW Reg., Bamenda, Mentchum River contributor 15 km NNW Bafut, 630m asl, 9 Nov.2011, MV-lamp ( NEOP325 , NEOP326 , NEOP327 , NEOP328 , NEOP329 , NEOP330 , NEOP331 , NEOP332 ; SMNS) . Republic of Kenya, 1♀: KENIA, Lake Turkana, Sibiloi National Park [3.92N, 36.18], Koobi Fora Base Camp 14.3.1988 ( HNHM, slide Z19.75) .

Habitus. WL 11.5–13.2mm. Pale, cerci yellow, apically gradually darkened.

Male. Unknown.

Female ( Fig. 457 ). S8 with a short wide nail, the inner part with anterolateral crests is longer than the projecting part. Vagina unmodified, SSt coiled, about 2–3 rings with a complete brown stout scale band which is almost half as wide as the nail, only the terminal section is narrower.

Egg. Regularly ovoid, on average 338*178µm, anchor pole and operculum are of similar width. Numerous straight shallow striae, costae and sulci lie on almost the same level. Surface of costae smooth, the narrow sulci with two lines of micropunctures and elongate widenings for the micropyles. Operculum parabolic, with shallow cells. Collar with one ring of cells. Anchor mushroom-like, stem solid.

DNA ( Figs. 492 , 498 ). A total of eight female specimens from Cameroon were sequenced for the COX1 DNA barcode fragment. Their sequences are identical and form a distinct cluster within the N. sjostedti needhami cluster, which is in line with these female specimens differing morphologically from typical N. sjostedti needhami . Describing this distinct population from Cameroon as a separate subspecies would require description of several other taxa to retain reciprocal monophyly of all taxa. As females of the named subspecies of S. sjostedti cannot be reliably distinguished, these specimens from Cameroon are explicitly characterised, but not formally described as a new subspecies.

Notes. The main morphological differences between the present females and other members of the sjostedticluster are the short, thick, and completely scaly SSt lacking bare basal regions, the anterolateral crests at the front of the nail, and the ovoid (as opposed to club-shaped) egg.

Figures

FIGURE 492. Simplified overview of codon-model maximum likelihood phylogram based on 356 mitochondrial genome and COX1 DNA barcode sequences (all-NT). Terminal labels include information on the species only. Clades of particular interest highlighted with colours that correspond to the clades in other trees. The full tree is shown in Figs 493-498.

FIGURE 498. Partial (clade K) codon-model maximum likelihood phylogram based on 356 mitochondrial genome and COX1 DNA barcode sequences (all-NT). See Fig. 493 for common details.

FIGURES 450–457. Neoperla sjostedti needhami Lestage and N. sp. aff. sjostedti. N. s. needhami: 450, 451, abdominal tip and contracted penis of the N. needhami lectotype; 452, ♂ from Pampana, Sierra Leone; 453, ♂ from Tukuyu, Tansania; 454, ♂ from Illubabaor, Ethiopia. Scales are 0.5mm, except for the details in 451; asterisks identify the caecum of penis. 455, 456, ♀ genital situs and an egg, Ethiopia, NW of Chora. N. sp. aff. N. sjostedti (by DNA) from Mentchum River, Cameroon: 457, ♀ genital situs. Scale is 100µm. Scales are 100µm; n, nail; sa, spermatheca; SSt, spermathecal stalk; V, vagina.