A review of Leuctridae (Insecta, Plecoptera) in Wuyi Mountains, China.

Abstract

Wuyi Mountains are located in the northern Oriental Region and the edge of the southern Palaearctic Region. They have a unique geographical location, complex landform and superior climatic conditions, providing a good ecological environment for Leuctridae species. However, due to the damage of some holotypes in the 20th century, limited drawings and lack of colour figures, it is necessary to reorganise and supplement the preserved Leuctridae specimens from Wuyi Mountains. In this study, we found that there are twelve species of Leuctridae recorded in Wuyi Mountains, accounting for about 20% of the recorded species of Leuctridae in China. These records include two genera and five new distribution records species: one species of the genus Paraleuctra Hanson, 1941: Paraleuctraorientalis (Chu 1928) and eleven species of the genus Rhopalopsole Klapálek, 1912, including five new distribution records to Wuyi Mountains: Rhopalopsolefengyangshanensis Yang, Shi & Li, 2009; Rhopalopsolesinensis Yang & Yang, 1993; Rhopalopsoleyangdingi Sivec & Harper, 2008; Rhopalopsoleflata Yang & Yang, 1995; Rhopalopsolebasinigra Yang & Yang, 1995. Now a total of twelve species of Leuctridae have been recorded from Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province of south-eastern China. In this paper, we also provide a key to the male, new images and some notes of these twelve species, except Rhopalopsolerecurvispina (Wu, 1949) and Rhopalopsolespiniplatta (Wu, 1949). We failed to collect these two species and we regard R.recurvispina as a nomen dubium, because there are no distinctive features that can be used to distinguish this species.