Genus Wohllebenia gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 9C5AA8F0-86F2-4551-A224-F3EA9B500ED6

Type species

Wohllebenia hybrida gen. et sp. nov., described below. Monotypic.

Diagnosis

In the absence of females and larvae for study, the new genus is defined exclusively by male characters. Morphological structures previously thought to be characteristic of either Porricondylini or Dicerurini (Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013) co-occur in Wohllebenia gen. nov. in a unique way, as follows. Circumfila have long posterior extension threads (Fig. 32C), a condition found typically in Dicerurini, whereas the scutum has membranous presutural windows and the parameral apodemes are short and two-branched (Fig. 32A), two conditions known from Porricondylini. The number of flagellomeres is reduced from 14, the plesiomorphous state in Porricondylinae, to 12. As regards terminalia structures, the gonocoxal ventral emargination is much larger in Wohllebenia (Fig. 32A) compared with other Porricondylinae (↓ 1) and both the base and the apex of the aedeagal apodeme are broadened (↓ 2).

Etymology

The generic name is to honor the German forester and book author Peter Wohlleben, born 1964, for his advocacy for ecologically and economically sustainable forestry practices.

Phylogenetic remarks

Male morphology does not provide clear indication of the tribal affiliation of Wohllebenia gen. nov. The decision here to classify this new genus with the Porricondylini is based on two points: in terms of morphology, porricondyline traits prevail in number; in terms of DNA barcoding, Wohllebenia ʼs position in the BOLD TaxonID Tree (Supp. file 1) is next to various porricondyline genera (Divellepidosis, Porricondyla, Zaitzeviola, Holoneurus) and at great distance from all dicerurine genera analyzed. The hybrid morphology found in Wohllebenia is unique among Porricondylinae known to me from the Holarctic realm, although I have seen unnamed species from elsewhere that are similar in this respect (Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013: 110). According to the molecular phylogenetic analysis by Sikora et al. (2019), Dicerurini as delineated by Jaschhof & Jaschhof (2013) might be paraphyletic in relation to Porricondylini. Wohllebenia is a reminder that this issue requires closer attention in the future.