Hydropsyche fitesa Ibrahimi sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: H. Ibrahimi; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 3AF2A177-2AD8-5889-AD20-5ED40A88FE4D; Location: continent: Asia; country: Iran; county: Sardasht; locality: Chamyaman River, Shalmash Waterfalls; decimalLatitude: 36.09779; decimalLongitude: 45.49293; Event: samplingProtocol: UV light trap; year: 2021; month: 7; day: 28

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: H. Ibrahimi; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: B4D17129-F400-56CF-A31F-B1319D693E5E; Location: continent: Asia; country: Iran; county: Sardasht; locality: Chamyaman River, Shalmash Waterfalls; decimalLatitude: 36.09779; decimalLongitude: 45.49293; Event: samplingProtocol: UV light trap; year: 2021; month: 7; day: 28

Description

Male (Fig. 3). Fore-wing length 8.1 mm, light brown, irregularly speckled with darker patches; hind-wing length 6 mm, light brown. Antennae and palps dark brown, head and thorax dorsally dark brown and the first and second pairs of legs brown. Tibia and femur of the third pair dark brown, tarsal segments brown.

Abdominal segment IX with dorsal median keel, segment about three times as tall as its greatest length; anterior margin convex, slightly incised basally, apical lobe on posterolateral margin large, roughly triangular. Median keel in dorsal view roughly rectangular, with straight apical margin and wide base. Intersegmental profile between segments IX and X in lateral view wide and deep, subdistally stepped. Segment X roughly quadrate with bulbous triangular dorsoapical lobes in dorsal view, with U-shaped excision in between. Apical margin of segment X in lateral view, with small, roughly lanceolate outgrowth medially, bearing few setae apically.

Inferior appendages longer than apex of segment X, each with clavate coxopodite in lateral view, bearing few elongate setae distally and shorter ones throughout. Coxopodite almost three times longer than harpago in lateral view; harpago flattened, almost equally wide throughout in lateral view and broader apically in ventral view.

Phallus in lateral view wider basally and apically, with somewhat rounded apex; in ventral view, with one pair of swellings and a very high, slightly narrowing apical part.

Remarks

Fore-wing length 8.2 mm, hind-wing length 6.1 mm in paratypes.

Diagnosis

Males of Hydropsyche fitesa sp. nov. are most similar to those of H. tigrata, but the following differences are noted: the subapical swellings of the phallus in H. tigrata are more pronounced in ventral and lateral views compared to H. fitesa sp. nov.; the apex of the phallus in lateral view is indented in H. tigrata, while it is rounded in H. fitesa sp. nov.; in H. tigrata, the dorsal margin of the phallus is apically depressed in lateral view, unlike in H. fitesa sp. nov., where it is nearly straight; the intersegmental profile between segments IX and X is shallower in lateral view in H. tigrata; in H. tigrata, the harpago is distally obliquely truncated in ventral view, resulting in a longer outer margin (in some Iranian specimens, the harpago is not extremely obliquely truncated distally, but it is still more dorsoapically produced), while, in H. fitesa sp. nov., the harpago is distally squarely truncated with similar lengths of the outer and inner margins; the dorsal corners of segment X are also longer and more pointed in H. tigrata in dorsal view. Furthermore, Hydropsyche fitesa sp. nov., like H. sciligra, differs from H. tigrata in the colouration of the fore-wings. H. fitesa sp. nov. has light brown fore-wings with irregularly speckled dark brown nuances throughout, while H. tigrata has light brown wings with three transverse bands.

Males of Hydropsyche fitesa sp. nov. also bear some resemblance to those of H. iranica and H. sciligra Malicky, but differ mainly in exhibiting a combination of the following characters: 1) in ventral view, only one pair of subapical swellings on the phallus, which are low and medium-wide, with margins above the swellings parallel; 2) phallus slightly curved around the basal third in lateral view; 3) dorsal keel of segment IX is wide, roughly rectangular, with a straight apical margin in dorsal view; 4) harpago is apically squarely truncated in ventral view; 5) intersegmental profile between segments IX and X is wide and deep in lateral view; 6) presence of a median outgrowth on the apical margin of segment X in lateral view. In H. iranica: 1) there is only one pair of subapical swellings onn the phallus, which are moderately high and narrow, with margins above the swelling narrowing significantly at the apex; 2) phallus is curved around the half of its length in lateral view; 3) dorsal keel of segment IX is roughly triangular in shape with a rounded apex in dorsal view; 4) harpago is apically rounded in ventral view; 5) intersegmental profile between segments IX and X is narrow and deep; 6) absence of an outgrowth on segment X in lateral view. In H. sciligra: 1) two pairs of swellings are present on the phallus, one pair located apically and the other subapically; 2) phallus is curved around the basal third in lateral view; 3) dorsal keel of segment IX is moderately wide and trapezoidal in dorsal view; 4) harpago is pointed ventroapically in lateral view; 5) intersegmental profile between segments IX and X is moderately wide and deep; 6) absence of an outgrowth on segment X in lateral view.

Etymology

The species is named after the first author’s wife, a lifelong supporter and participant in caddisfly studies across the world.