Abstract
The imago stages of three species of the Hermanella complex are described mostly based on material from Roraima, northern Brazil: Hydrosmilodon gilliesae, Hydromastodon sallesi and Leentvaaria palpalis. Male imagos of Hydrosmilodon gilliesae and Leentvaaria palpalis both have a pair of large, broad projections at the posterior margin of the styliger plate, nearly covering the penis lobes; in Leentvaaria palpalis, however, these projections are fused. The male imago of Hydromastodon sallesi resembles Hydrosmilodon plagatus in that both species have a styliger plate with a robust projection that is curved towards the penis lobes. DNA barcoding is likely to be a powerful investigative tool for identifying and understanding species limits among these Ephemeroptera taxa, especially if it is used within an integrative taxonomic context. An updated identification key to the genera of the Hermanella complex is proposed.
Highlights
Since the delimitation of the Hermanella generic complex (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Atalophlebiinae) by Domínguez and Flowers (1989), significant new data have come to light, including the descriptions of several new taxa
The male imago of Hydrosmilodon gilliesae can be distinguished from the other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) Eyes separated on meson of head by a short distance — less than 0.5 times width of median ocellus (Fig. 1a); 2) Fore wings hyaline, slightly tinged with brown at base (Fig. 2a); Figure 1
The male imago of Leentvaaria can be distinguished from other genera of the Hermanella complex by the following combination of characters: 1) Eyes separated on meson of head by a short distance—less than 0.5 times the width of the median ocellus (Fig. 5a); 2) Fork of MA asymmetrical and fork of MP slightly asymmetrical (Fig. 6a); 3) Crossvein above fork of MA not slanted (Fig. 6a); 4) Styliger plate enlarged posteriorly, completely covering penis lobes in ventral view (Fig. 6d); 5) Penis divided, each lobe with a long spine apically curved (Fig. 6e)
Summary
Since the delimitation of the Hermanella generic complex (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Atalophlebiinae) by Domínguez and Flowers (1989), significant new data have come to light, including the descriptions of several new taxa. Thomas et al (2004) described two new species of Hydrosmilodon, H. gilliesae Thomas & Péru and H. mikei Thomas & Boutonnet, based on nymphs from French Guiana. Polegatto and Batista (2007) erected the new genus Hydrosmastodon for H. mikei and described a new species Hydrosmastodon sallesi Polegatto & Batista, based solely on nymphs. Kluge (2007) considered Hydrosmilodon and Paramaka Savage & Domínguez, 1992 as junior synonyms of Needhamella Domínguez & Flowers, 1989 and placed all remaining genera as subgenera of Hermanella Needham & Murphy, 1924, a vision not followed by Nascimento and Salles (2013) nor in the present paper. The Hermanella complex is composed by the following taxa: Hermanella; Hydromastodon; Hydrosmilodon; Hylister Domínguez & Flowers, 1989; Leentvaaria; Needhamella; Paramaka; and Traverella Edmunds, 1948
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