Archboldargia scissorhandsi spec. nov. from Papua, Indonesia (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae)

2007·1.9 MB·

by  Kalkman, V J

Odonatologica36(2):201-206 JuneI,2007
Archboldargiascissorhandsi spec. nov.
fromPapua, Indonesia
(Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae)
V.J.Kalkman
National MuseumofNatural HistoryNaturalis,P.O.Box9517,
NL-2300 RALeiden,TheNetherlands
[email protected]
Received March 4,2006/RevisedandAcceptedOctober19,2006
Thenewsp.is described,based onasingle <J.Holotype S'. Indonesia: Papua
(formerlyIrian Jaya), Pass Valley,Ibera R., 13/20-V-1999;depositedin ZMAN,
Amsterdam. Akey to the Archboldargia S6 is givenand some noteson the
distribution ofthegenusareprovided.
INTRODUCTION
LIEFTINCK(1949) described the genusArchboldargia for two new species
ofCoenagrionidae, A. mirificaandA. gloriosa. Whiledealingwiththesespecies,
Lieftinckusedwords like“bizarre”and“gigantesque” and describedthe males
as “veryhandsomely coloured‘damselflies’,thevividgreen,bright blue, andred
coloursoftheirbody,contrasting withdeepblack, coupled withtheirhuge size,
faroutrivalling the appearanceofany otherCaenagriid [coenagriid] knownto
me”.Sincetheiroriginal descriptionnonewinformationonthis genushasbeen
published, andtheirhabitatsandhabitsare still unknown.Inasmall collection
of dragonflies from Papua(formerly Irian Jaya), IndonesiaI discoveredamale
ofanundescribedArchboldargia,whichcaught myeye dueto itsspectacular ap-
pendages.
ARCHBOLDARGIA SCISSORHANDSI SP. NOV.
Figuresl-3a
Material. - HolotypeS:INDONESIA:Papua,Passvalley,IbemR., 1800m, 13/20-V-1999,
HenkvanMastrigtleg.,depositedinZoologicalMuseum,UniversityofAmsterdam. Additional in-
202 V.J.Kalkman
formationonthelocation asprovidedbythecollector:“The specimenwascollectedneartheairport
‘PassValley’whichliesalongtheroadfromtheBaliemValleytoJayapura,approximately25kmfrom
Wamena.Coordinates: 03°52’S 139°04’ E; 1828m asl”.
Etymology. —Theinferior appendagesresemble pairsofscissorsandtherefore thespeciesis
namedafterthetitlecharacter inTim Burton’smovie,‘Edward Scissorhands’.
MALE(holotype) (Fig. 1). — Headbrokenfromprothorax; antennae wanting.
Leftlateral extension of posterior ridge of pronotumbroken and lost. Large
damselfly withstout abdomen.Agrees in allrespects withthegeneric diagnosis
given by LIEFTINCK(1949) unlessotherwise stated.
Head. - Dorsalandpos-
teriorpartofheadblackwith
round,large, yellowishbrown
postocular spots. Median
part of frons, postclypeus
andanteclypeus black. Face
belowtheantennae,socketof
antennae,genae,mandibles
andlabrumyellowish brown,
Fig. 1.Archboldargiascissorhandsi sp. n.,holotype6. thelattertwo withblackbor-
ders; labrumwithmedianblack cleft running downto abouttwo-thirds of the
height oflabrum. Labiumandmaxillaeblack.
Thorax. — Prothoraxlargely black withposterior marginandpartofthe
median divisionof thepronotum more greyish; anteriormargin ofpronotum
simple, collar-shaped,withroundedmargins;posteriormargin largewithasmall,
asymmetricalmedianspine andlargepaddle-shaped rims(Fig. 2).Synthoraxblack
withdirtyyellowish brownmarkingsonlowertwo-thirdsofthemetepimeron, an
ill-definedstripeon mesepimeron, whichstartsatlowercornerof mesepimeron,
running fromjust above spiracle untilanteriorborder at about two-thirds of
length of mesepimeron.
Legs black, coxae black with pale spots onanteriorandposterior side. Legs
longandslenderwithlong bristlesonfemurandtibia;forefemurwith10+,mid-
dlewith 10-12,hindwith 15 spinesonthe lateralside; foretibaewith 14,middle
with 10-12,hindwith 12 spines on the lateralside;bristles on femoraofequal
lengthabouttwiceas long as interspaces; bristles on tibiaedecreasing in length
from basetoapex,the longest being aboutthreetimesas long as theinterspac-
es.
Wingslong andelongated, aboutsixtimesas longas widewithdrawnoutapi-
ces,andalmost straight posteriormargin, membranesuffusedwithyellow, veins
black.Pterostigma small, darkbrown, costallengthinforewing 1.1 mmandcostal
lengthinhindwing 1.3mm.PetiolationshortandceasesatlevelofAxl. Discoidal
cellwithacutedistallowerangle,costalveinabouttwotimesas longas proximal
veininforewingandaboutthreetimesaslonginhindwing. Px 18-19inhindwing.
Archboldargiascissorhandsi sp.n. 203
and21-22inforewing.
Abdomen.— Blackwith
bluespotsasfollows:si with
small dorsal mark; s2 with
squaredorsalmarkon ante-
riorhalfofsegment;s3 with
markbeginning at the ante-
rior border of the segment
and covering two-thirdsof
the dorsumslightly tapering
towardsposteriorpartofthe
segment; dorsum of s9 and
slO largely blue. Segments3-
7 with latero-ventralmark-
ingsneartheanteriorcorner
of the segments, markings
on ventralsideonly separat-
ed from each other by wide
black sternites. Segments 9
and 10 expanded, posterior
end of slO almost twice as
wideas s8. Superior append-
ages short and simple; infe- Figs2-3. DetailsofthemorphologyofArchboldargiamales:
rior appendages almost as (2)synthoraxofA. scissorhandsi sp.n.(leftrimofposterior
ridgebroken),dorsalview;- (3)appendages,dorsalview: (a)
long ass9andslO combined scissorhandsi sp. n.; —(b)A.mirifica; - (c)A.gloriosa.
andwithacomplex structure
(Fig. 3a).
Measurements (mm). - Totallength(includingappendages)53;abdomen,includingap-
pendages42;hindwing33.
FEMALEunknown.
DIFFERENTIALDIAGNOSIS. — MalesofthegenusArchboldargia areeasily dif-
ferentiatedfromotherPapuan species of coenagrionids by theirimpressive size
combinedwiththeexpanded segments9 and 10,thereduced superior append-
ages andthelargeandcomplex inferiorappendages. TheA. scissorhandsi sp. n.
males are easily differentiatedfromthe known congenersby theabsence ofan
antehumeralstripeandtheshape oftheinferiorappendages.
KEYTOTHEMALESOFARCHBOLDARGIA
I Posterior marginofprothoraxwith a largeandsturdymedian tuberclewhich isabout ashigh
asthethorax itself. Inferior appendagesnotdeeplydivided;superiorappendageswith interior
tooth(Fig. 3b).Antehumeral stripepresentand conspicuous mirifica
— Posterior marginofprothoraxwith a small,thinmedian spine.Inferior appendagesdeeplydi-
204 V.J.Kalkman
vided;superiorappendageswithoutinteriortooth(Figs3a,c).Antehumeral stripeabsent 2
2 Apicesofinferiorappendagesblunt(Fig.3c).Anterior surfaceofheadlargelygreyishblue.Syn-
thoraxlargelypurplish-blue gloriosa
— Apicesofinferiorappendagespointed(Fig.3a).Anteriorsurface ofhead largelyyellow-brown.
Synthoraxlargelyblack scissorhandsi sp.n.
DISCUSSION
Thecoenagrionid genusArchboldargia isplaced inthe subfamily Argiinae to-
gether withthe NewGuinean generaPalaiargia Forster, 1903, Hylaeargia Lief-
tinck, 1949and Papuargia Lieftinck, 1938, the American genusArgia Rambur,
1842;theorientalOnychargia Selys, 1865andthe Philippine Moroargion Need-
ham& Gyger, 1939(DAVIES& TOBIN, 1984). Thissubfamily ischaracterised
by thespinesonthetibiawhichare atleasttwiceas longas theintervening spac-
es; petiolation of the wing ending wellbefore Ac, so that the distancebetween
theendofpetiolationandtheoriginofAc is longerthanAc; discoidalcellshort
andwide,dilatingoutwardly; antenodalscloseandconverging posteriorly; arc at
levelof distalantenodal, analveinarises proximal toAc; vulvarspineinfemales
absent (DAVIES&TOBIN, 1984;WESTFALL& MAY, 1996).
ThelargelyAfricangeneraMesocnemisKarsch, 1891, MetacnemisSelys, 1863
andArabicnemis Waterston, 1984,with respectively 4, 3and 1 knownspecies,
haveoftenbeenattributedtoArgiinaebasedonlarval aswellasadultcharacters.
However,the placement ofthesespecies has long beenunderdebateandsince
thepublication ofDAVIES & TOBIN(1984) they havemostoften been placed
inPlatycnemididae (fordiscussionseeGASSMANN,2004;LIEFTINCK. 1949,
1957;RIS, 1921, 1924;WATERSTON, 1984).
Although the abovecharacters distinguish theArgiinae frommostothercoe-
nagrionids, it is not certain whether they really reflect taxonomicaffinity. Re-
cently, aphylogenetic analysis usingmorphological characters failed to support
the widely used Coenagrionidae subdivisions as proposed in 1984by DAVIES
& TOBIN (O’GRADY & MAY, 2003). They argued that “subfamilies should
not be recognised withinCoenagrionidae untilwell-supported subdivisions are
demonstrated”. Although presentknowledge isnot sufficientto statewhetheror
not the subfamily Argiinae is a monophyletic group,it seemsreasonableto as-
sumethatthefourNewGuineangeneradoformamonophyletic group.Besides
the above-mentionedcharacters thespecies areall ofmoderateto largesize and
manyofthemarestrikinglycolouredwithblue, redorpurplemarkings. Astrong
indication fortheir closeaffinity are the larvaedescribedofthe New Guinean
HylaeargiasimulatrixLieftinck, andPalaiargia ceyxLieftinck, bothbysupposi-
tion.Theseare short,witharatherlarge headwhichis,compared toothercoena-
grionidsrelatively longwithprominentpostocular lobes, thelabialmaskisrather
shortandbroadwithaprominent, broadly roundedmedianlobe, premental se-
tae absent(LIEFTINCK, 1957) Thesecharacters are sharedwiththeAmerican
Archholdargiascissorhandsi sp.n. 205
Argia (WESTFALL & MAY, 1996).Thecaudalappendages in theArgia larvae
are lamellateandheldin avertical plane orare ofthe saccoid type(CORBET,
1999).Inthetwo describedNewGuineanspecies theseconsistofabasal saccus
andathin, stronglyexpanded apicalmembranouspartwhichisirregularly fold-
ed(LIEFTINCK, 1957).Theonly caudalappendages ofalarvafaintlyremind-
ingone ofthis structure are thoseofLieftinckia Kimmins, which isconsidered
to belong to the Platycnemididae or Megapodagrionidae (LIEFTINCK, 1963;
CORBET, 1999).The shape ofthe appendages in Hylaeargia andPalaiargia is
unique withintheCoenagrionidae and strongly supports theaffinity of atleast
thesetwo genera.
The generaArchboldargia, Palaiargia, Hylaeargia and Papuargia have 3,20,
2 and 1 known species respectively. FourPalaiargia species are endemicto the
NorthMoluccanislands ofObiandHalmahera, the rest beingendemicto New
Guinea(including MisoolandWaigeoe). Palaiargiaisfoundinabroadaltitudi-
nal rangefrom sea levelto2100m. Hylaeargia and Papuargia are knownfrom
onlyafewrecords andso farconfinedto theelevationsof 1150-1600mand250
m, respectively. Archholdargia is confinedto higher altitudes, with the records
ofA. mirificaLieftinck, A. gloriosa LieftinckandA. scissorhandsisp. n.ranging
from1740to2100masl (Fig. 4).A. mirificaisknown fromthreemalesandtwo
femalesfromtwolocalities, whileA. gloriosa is only known froma singlemale.
DetailsofthehabitatandlifehistoryofArchboldargia arelacking. Thesupposed
larvae ofHylaeargiasimulatrixand Palaiargia ceyx were found understones in
torrentialmountainstreams(LIEFTINCK, 1957)makingitlikely thatArchbold-
argia isalso tobefoundinfastrunning waters.
Fig. 4.MapofNewGuinea showingthedistribution ofthespecies ofthegenus Archboldargia.
206 V.J.Kalkman
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MATTIHAmAlAINEN,JOHNMICHALSKIandJANVANTOLarethanked forcomment-
ingonthemanuscriptand PAUL HOPEforcheckingtheEnglish.
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