Suwallia teleckojensis

Suwallia teleckojensis (Šámal 1939)

(Figs. 1-10)

Alloperla teleckojensis Šámal 1939 — Šámal 1939:423 (original description of female); Zapekina-Dulkeit 1955:172 (description of male and female); Raušer 1968:336 (type lost).

Chloroperla teleckojensis (Šámal 1939) — Illies 1966:443 (comb. n.).

Suwallia teleckojensis: Zwick et al. 1971:857 (comb. n., description of male and female); Zwick 1973:297 (catalog); Zhiltzova & Teslenko 1997:258 (description of larva); Alexander and Stewart 1999:221 (description of male, female and egg); Teslenko & Zhiltzova 2009:86, 312 (keys to male, female and larva); Judson & Nelson 2012:28 (description of male, female and larva).

Material Examined. China, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Mt. Aershan (Arxan), Bu- Dong River, 120° 24' 37.97''E, 47° 17' 26.49''N, 29 VII 2013, 1107 m, leg. Li Shi, Chunyan Jin and Chaoqun De: 2♂, 3♀ (HIST); 3♂, 1♀ (HNHM).

Description of the Chinese specimens

Habitus: The general color is yellow in alcohol (Figs. 7-8), antennae faded to yellow. Dark U-shaped markings on the meso- and metanota, and abdominal medial stripe extending down most of the abdominal terga.

Male. Head with a rounded dark area between ocelli, and with another dark area anterior to distinct M-line. The pronotum is yellow with brown lateral and anterior bands on disc and a dark medial stripe (Fig. 9). The median abdominal stripe is trapezoidalshaped at each tergum and terminates at the posterior margin of tergum 8 and a small quadrate vestige at anterior margin of tergum 9 (Figs. 1, 7).

Terminalia. Tergum 9 posterior margin slightly concave medially, covered by fine hairs, overhanging anterior margin of tergum 10 before treated by KOH (Fig. 1). Tergum 10 with anterior margins divided into two separate thin sclerites, median portion to base of epiproct forming a sclerotized area that resembles a flying eagle, paired longitudinal sclerites positioned lateral to the epiproct are lightly sclerotized. Hemitergal processes finger-shaped, medially directed and slightly curved backward in natural position (Figs. 1, 2). Epiproct knob-like, with a central, light colored, bald area, and margins covered with long hairs (Figs. 1-3). Aedeagus (Figs. 4-5) before eversion, an angular V-shaped sclerite could be seen through the cuticle of segment 9 (Fig. 6). Everted aedeagus subquadrate with two ventrolateral lobes at subapical portion, and with a wide basal sclerite. A large V-shaped sclerite consisting of closely set setae, and a large setose trapezoidal area located forward of the sclerite. The apex rounded in lateral aspect, lobes covered by fine spinules (Fig. 5).

Female. Head and pronotum similar to male, the abdominal stripe extends only to tergum 7 (Fig. 2). Subgential plate large; broad basally, slightly constricted mesolaterally, then slightly tapering, posterior margin convex, barely extending to the posterior margin of sternum 9. Sternum 10 posterior margin not produced. Paraprocts small and triangular (Fig. 10).

Remarks. Our specimens differ slightly from Russian and Mongolian specimens by having lightly sclerotized sclerites laterally to the epiproct; instead of strongly sclerotized ones (compare Figs. 1, 3 with figs. 533-534 in Teslenko & Zhiltzova (2009) and fig. 127 in Judson & Nelson (2012)). In addition, the head pattern of the Chinese specimens consists of two dark patches, while patches are connected on Mongolian specimens (compare Figs. 7-9 with figs. 120, 126 in Judson & Nelson (2012) and fig. 21.E in Alexander & Stewart (1999)). Shape of the female subgenital plate is intermediate between those illustrated for specimens from Kamchatka (fig. 535 in Teslenko & Zhiltzova (2009)) and Mongolia (fig. 128 in Judson & Nelson (2012)).

The original figure of the female type of A. teleckojensis (Šámal 1939, fig. 6) is noticeably different from the specimens subsequently figured as A. teleckojensis (Zapekina-Dulkeit 1955, figs. 10- 15) or later as S. teleckojensis (Zwick et al. 1971, figs. 23-25; Zhiltzova & Teslenko 1997, figs. 50.1; Alexander & Stewart 1999: fig. 20; Teslenko & Zhiltzova 2009, figs. 533-535, 1643-1644; Judson & Nelson 2012: figs. 120, 126-129; Figs. 1-10) and more like an Alloperla Banks, 1906 than a Suwallia. Unfortunately, the type is lost and considered to be destroyed during World War II (Raušer 1968, Zwick et al. 1971). Efforts of the second author to locate the type in the National Museum Prague, where the remnants of the Jaromír Šámal collection were deposited, were unsuccessful. However, the name S. teleckojensis is now used for an identifiable taxon since the redescription by Zapekina-Dulkeit (1955) based on Suwallia specimens collected at the type locality of A. teleckojensis. According to the General Recommendations of the Code about stability of nomenclature (ICZN 1999), the current prevailing usage of the name should be considered instead of unnecessarily providing a new name for this taxon and treating A. teleckojensis as a nomen dubium.