Research Article |
Corresponding author: Michel Sartori ( michel.sartori@vd.ch ) Academic editor: Lyndall Pereira-da-Conceicoa
© 2021 Michel Sartori.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Sartori M (2021) A new species of Neohagenulus Traver, 1938 from Hispaniola (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae, Hagenulinae, Hagenulini). ZooKeys 1070: 41-50. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1070.73484
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Here, I report a new species of the genus Neohagenulus Traver, 1938 from the Dominican Republic. The genus was believed to be endemic to Puerto Rico until now. Neohagenulus hodeceki sp. nov. is described at the nymphal stage. Some discussion on the tribe Hagenulini is also provided.
Borinquena, Careospina, Hagenulus, morphology, new species, nymph, sexual dimorphism
Nine genera of the family Leptophlebiidae have been found on four islands of the Greater Antilles, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico (Naranjo Lopez and Peters 2016) and some of them are sometimes considered to be subgenera (
Hispaniola is one of the less-studied for mayflies of the four islands. Two leptophlebiid species are currently known, Hagenulus eatoni Banks, 1924 and Careospina annulata Peters, 1971. The former is only known by the type series, which consists of 11 pinned females collected in 1912 at Diquini, Haiti and the latter is known only by the holotype, a pinned male imago collected in 1934 from Mont La Hotte, Haiti.
Here, I report the presence of the genus Neohagenulus on Hispaniola, from the Dominican Republic, based on nymphs which are described as a new species. This is the first species of this genus known outside of Puerto Rico.
The specimens have been collected in the Dominican Republic during a field trip in summer 2021.
Nymphs were preserved in 100% ethanol. Nymphal habitus were photographed using a Canon EOS 6D camera and the Visionary Digital Passport imaging system (formerly available and distributed by Dun Inc., Virginia) and processed with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Helicon Focus version 5.3.
Two nymphs were dissected in Cellosolve (2-Ethoxyethanol) with subsequent embedding in Euparal medium and mounting on slides. Fore- and hind wingpads of a submature female nymph were dissected and subimaginal wings examined. Microscopic pictures were taken using an Olympus BX51 microscope coupled with an Olympus SC50 camera; photographs were enhanced with Olympus Stream Basic 2.3.2 stacking software and Adobe Photoshop version 21.2.2.
The material is deposited in the collections of the Museum of zoology, Lausanne (MZL) and the Museo National de Historia Natural "Prof. Eugenio de Jesús Marcano", Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (MNHNSD).
Holotype. Dominican Republic male nymph in ethanol, La Vega Province, Valle Nuevo National Park, 18°52'01"N, 70°34'44"W, 12 Jul. 2021, ca 900 m a.s.l., J. Hodeček leg. (GBIFCH00834690) [MZL] Paratypes. 5 nymphs in ethanol [MNHNSD] (MNHNSD 11.05 – MNHNSD 11.09), 12 nymphs in ethanol (GBIFCH00834691), 2 female nymphs on slide (GBIFCH00604114-GBIFCH00604115), same data as holotype. [MZL]
Dominican Republic 1 nymph, La Vega Province, Armando Bermúdez National Park, 19°04'02"N 70°51'50.7"W, ca 1100 m a.s.l., 15 Jul. 2021, J. Hodeček leg. (GBIFCH00834694) [MZL]
The new species is named after its collector, Dr Jiří Hodeček (CHUV, Lausanne), forensic entomologist.
Nymph (not mature): body length up to 7 mm, cerci slightly longer than body length, paracercus longer than cerci.
Coloration.
Cuticular coloration evenly light brown on whole body; hypodermal coloration as in Fig.
Mouthparts.
Labrum (Fig.
Thorax.
Forelegs with femora ca 2.5× longer than wide, outer margin with row of very long and thin setae, together with apical and subapical rows of long, stout and pointed setae, inner margin with subapical row of long and stout setae (shorter than those on the outer margin), with small stout setae in proximal part, dorsal surface with scattered small to medium-sized stout setae; tibiae shorter than femora, with long and thin setae on outer margin, inner margin with several rows of stout small to medium-sized setae; tarsi only with thin setae, claw moderately hooked, with a row of 12‒14 teeth, increasing in size distally (Fig.
Abdomen
. Posterior margin of tergites I‒III smooth, of segments IV‒VIII with small needle-like denticles, slightly increasing in size posteriorly, tergites IX and X with triangular denticles; posterior margin of sternite IX concave in the middle (Fig.
Male imago, female imago, eggs unknown.
The new species is attributed to the genus Neohagenulus mainly based on the posterolateral projections present on abdominal segments II‒IX. In the redescription proposed by
Another consideration for placement of the new species in the genus Neohagenulus is the size of the costal projection on the hind wingpad, suggesting that the hind wing of this species possesses a well-developed and long process. In Careospina, the costal process is present and normally developed (
Despite of this, N. hodeceki can be separated from species of Careospina (all known from Cuba) and Borinquena (Puerto Rico and Cuba) at the nymphal stage by the number of posterolateral projections on the abdomen and from species of Neohagenulus (all known from Puerto Rico), by the size of the second segment of the maxillary palp.
A remarkable character is the difference in the fore wingpad coloration between male and female nymphs; this dimorphism is not reported within Neohagenulus or Careospina species, although females often have costal and subcostal fields of forewing more tinted than in males. This difference is nevertheless testified for the species Hagenulus jamaicensis Peters, 1971 where male forewing is hyaline except some crossveins “surrounded with brown clouds” at the tip of the wing, whereas the female forewing exhibits almost all crossveins “surrounded with dark brown clouds” (
Among the tribe Hagenulini (sensu
The fact that the genus Borinquena is known from Puerto Rico and Cuba by five extant species and from Hispaniola by four extinct species indicates a larger distribution of the genus in the Miocene. Due to the lack of prospection on Hispaniola, it is therefore possible that the genus is still present but overlooked. In any case, a better understanding of the diversity of the tribe Hagenulini on Hispaniola is required before any biogeographical or phylogeographic attempt.
Neohagenulus hodeceki is the third extant leptophlebiid species reported from Hispaniola, the first one for almost a century and the first one known at the nymphal stage. Although I fully agree that the knowledge of the imaginal stages is of prime importance, I think it is noteworthy to formally mention and describe this taxon due to the scarcity of data on the leptophlebiids of Hispaniola. Considering the diversity reported for fishes (
My sincere thanks to Jiří Hodeček (CHUV, Lausanne) and Jiří Pirkl for collecting these interesting specimens. Dr Hodeček’s fieldwork was made possible by a collecting permit and an export permit (VAPB-08862) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Natural resources, Santo Domingo, which is greatly acknowledged. Gabriel de los Santos (MNHNSD) is thanked for his logistic support. I appreciated the careful review and suggestions made by Arnold Staniczek (SMNS, Stuttgart) and Luke M. Jacobus (IUPC, Columbus).