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Odonatologica30(1): 111-116 March 1,2001 Aciagrion pinheyi spec, nov. from South Africa (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) M.J. Samways Invertebrate Conservation Research Centre, School ofBotany andZoology, University ofNatal, P/Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, Pietermaritzburg,South Africa e-mail: [email protected] Received June 13,2000/Revised andAccepted July4, 2000 Aciagrion had until now notbeen recorded in South Africa. The new sp.from a pan in thick subtropical savannais described, illustrated and compared with similar congeners. Holotype 3, allotype 9 (incopula):South Africa, KwaZulu- -Natal prov., Ndumo Game Reserve, 21-1-2000; depositedat SAM, Cape Town. INTRODUCTION Aciagrion is anEthiopian, OrientalandAustralasian genusofdamselfliesthat inhabitswampy areas, particularlyinthickbushandforest(PINHEY, 1972).There are22 describedspecies, tenofwhichareAfrican(BRIDGES, 1993).TheseAfrican species arehighly localized, yetsome havevery widegeographical ranges. There arerelatively fewpreserved specimens, anduntilnow, no Aciagrion species have beenrecordedinSouthAfrica(PINHEY, 1984). Thispaperdescribes anewspecies fromapaninthehot,low-lying thickbushof northernKwaZulu-Natal. ACIAGRIONPINHEYISP.NOV. Figures 1-10 Material. — Holotype 3\ SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Ndumo Game Reserve 80 m a.s.l., 26° 52’S, 32° 11'E, 21-1-2000 (M.J. Samways);allotype 9,in copula. Both held in the sameenvelope, with photographicslides,atthe South African Museum,Cape Town. Additional material (6 3, 5 9 paratypes) samedata. Paratypes (1 3,1 9) currentlyplaced inthe Natural History Museum (London) and (5 3, 1 9) in the Invertebrate Conservation Research Centre, Pietermaritzburg.Allspecimens acetone-treated. Allcolours arethose in life. 112 M.J. Samways Etymology. — Namedin honourofthelate Dr Elliot Pi nhe y. MALE(Holotype). — General appearance: bluishgreen andblack head, bright saladgreenand black striped thorax, abdomenblack dorsally butbright greenish blueatsideof first fewsegments, brightmid-blueabdomentip. Head. — Labiumwhitishbuff.Labrumbluishgreenwithacentral,andtwolateral, blackspots. Genaebluishgreen.Anteclypeus bluishgreenwithfine,brownish tracery. Postclypeus black withabluishgreenmargin,andtwo bluishgreentriangles.Frontal bandgreen.Vertexmattblack, withlarge, green,triangularpostocular spots,notquite linkedby abarofthesamecolour(Fig. 1).Eyes brightgreenwithasmall,black cap. Thorax. — Prothorax aboveblack,withagreen, anterior margin; with a large, green spot on the side, and green below (Fig. 2). Metapleural laminaflange-like, witha wide, distinct notch(Fig. 2). Dorsum ofsynthorax black; antehumeralstripe bright, salad green; a narrow, black stripe, wideningatthedistalend, follows the mesopleural suture. Small, elongated black dot at end of metapleural suture (i.e. metapleural fossa)(Fig3). Rest ofside ofsynthorax bright salad green, becoming palegreen;buff below.Interalarareablack with greenspots. Wings clear but with deeply fumose blotches in the cells surrounding the pterostigmas and distalto Figs 1-8.Male Aciagrionpinheyi sp.n.: (1)head from above; — (2) prothorax andmesostigmallamina with adistinct notch thebrace vein(Figs 4,5). (arrowed); — (3) left side of synthorax; — (4) rightforewing Pterostigmas smoky pterostigma; — (5) right hindwingpterostigma; — (6) right brown with fine, whitish superior anal appendagepositioned to show the spine at its borders(Figs4,5). Short, maximum; — (7) right inferior anal appendagepositioned to rounded parallelograms, show the spine atits maximum; — (8) left superiorappendages in side viewand in situ. but narrower in the Aciagrionpinheyi sp.n. 113 hindwing. Forewing with 1OV2 -12Vi postnodal crossveins. Legs lightbuff, with thinblack lines on the outer sides ofthefemora, and black spots on the distal joints. Abdomen.— Segments 1-8metallicblackabove;thebandstarting narrow and dorsalon 1 graduallybecoming wider,enveloping thesidesby 7.Segments 1- -4brightbluishgreenlaterally. Segments 8-9 bright mid-blue,witha fine, black, distal margin to 10. Segment 10 withabifid scallop. Superior appendages black with a whitish inside tip; bearing a large, shiny black triangular, downwards- -pointing tooth, only clearly visible on dissection (Fig. 6). Inferiorappendages greyish; whitishontheinsidetip, andbearing ablack, acute, upwarding-pointing spine atthebase,andonly visible on dissection(Fig. 7).Insideviewtheinferior appendages areabout Wi-2times longer thanthesuperior appendages (Fig. 10). Measurements (in mm). - Total length(inchapps) 37-39,abdomen(inchapps 30-31), hind wing 20.5-22. female(Allotype). — Generalappearance: long andslender, greenish,blackish and witha salmon-pink abdomentip. Head. — Labiumlightbuff. Labrumlightbrownwiththreesmallblack dots. Anteclypeus dullgreenwith faint, darkmarks. Postclypeus brownish greenwith black splashes. Frontalbandbright green.Vertexblackwithvery large,indistinctly- -edge greenpostocular spots, not quite linked by a greenbar. Hind margin of vertex andocciput green.Eyes greenwithblack cap. Thorax. — Prothoraxwiththesamepatterning andcolouring as themale, but not as sharply demarcated(Fig. 9). Mesostigmal lamina,insideview,aridge (Fig. 9). Synthorax black dorsally, with a light green,adjacent stripe, and a narrow (narrower than male), black line along the mesopleural suture. Rest of synthorax pale green going to buffbelow.A heart-shaped, black dot at the distal end of the metapleural suture. Pterostigmas as in the malebut only very faint traces of smudging in the surrounding cells. Forewingwith 12'Apostnodal crossveins.Legspale buffwithbrownishblack smudges andstreaks on thedistalendoffemoraandproximalendoftibias. Abdomen. — Segments 1-7blackabove,with theblack mark narrowedat theproximal endof each segment and widened at the distal end. Segments 1-7 pale green going to buff below. Figs 9-10. Female Aciagrion Segments 8-10all salmon pink. Segment 8 with pinheyi sp. n.: (9)part ofleft side sharp, backwards-pointing spine (Fig. 10). of prothorax, mesostigmal lamina Ovipositor extending beyond 10by abouthalfits (with ridge arrowed), and part of length (Fig. 10). Cerci short, conical, pink with synthorax; — (10) last three brownishtips. abdominalsegments from the left side. 114 M.J. Samways Table I Comparativefeatures ofmaleAciagrionpinheyi sp.n.,A. g. gracile, A. g.attenuatumand A. ? hamoni Feature pinheyi g.gracile g.attenuatum ?hamoni Labrum Bluish-green witha Bluish-green witha Yellowishbrown Palegreen centralblack dot central black dot Postclypeus Blackwithtwoblue Blackwithtwoblue Yellowishbrown Black triangles triangles Vertex Black, withlarge Colour?withlarge Reddishbrown with Blackwithnarrowed greenpostocular (colour?) postocu- faintbrown lines bluish greenpostocu- spots lar spots demarcating post- lar spots ocular spots Prothorax Blackabove,withtwo Palebluish,indis- Palebrown Blackwithlargegreen, green,lateralspots,and tinctly markedin lateral spotsand small greeninthelower half brown dorsal twin spots Mesostigmal Witha deeply notched ? Withalong curved Raisedatventralend. lamina flange post-dorsal ridge depressed dorsally, withlargish post- dorsal ridge Synthorax pattern Wideblackjuxta-carinal Faintbrown Plain brownwith Wideblackand very linewith adjacent bright juxta-carinal line small spots narrowpale green greenlineofequal endingdorsally in stripes width;thin black line blackdot; pale alonghumeral suture; colourpale bluish black dotatdistalend ofmetapleuralsuture Pterostigmas Greyishbrown,edged in Browninforewing Browninforewing Deepbrown,edgedin white;narrowerin andnarrowerin andnarrowedin white hindwing; adjacent cells; hindwing hindwing; one withbrown smudges Mozambique speci- menwithadjacent black smudges No.forewing 10/xi- 12>/2 14 13 13 postnodals Hindwing length 21 23.5 22.5 21.5 (mm) Abdominal Black bandnarrowed Black bandnarrowed Browncrescentic Blackband expanded segment2 distally distally line distally blue Abdominal Skyblue; dorsal Skyblue Violetblue Blue segments8-10 hindmargin of 10black Abdomen 30-31 37 37 28.5 length(mm) Superior/inferior Inferiorlonger Inferiorslightly Inferiorlonger Inferiorslightly longer appendages 1Vi-2times longer 1Vitimes toequal Teeth visiblein No Yes Yes No sideview Superior appendage Squarely conicaland Rounded conicaland Roundedconical andSharply conicaland insideview hirsute hirsute hirsute glabrous Inferiorappendage Terminally oval Terminallyoval Terminallyoval Terminally round- insideview cornered,truncated Superior appen- Huge andtriangular Large, longand Large, longand Smallandacute dage tooth curved curved Inferiorappen Medium-sized,witha Medium-sized,with Medium-sized,with Minute,long,finger-like dage tooth curved sharp point asharp,curvedpoint asharp, curvedpoint and sinuous Aciagrion pinheyi sp.n. 115 Table I, continued Proportionate size Superior about2times Superiorandinferior Superiorandinferior Superiortoothabout ofteethofanal largerthaninferior teethofsimilarsize teethofsimilarsize twicethe sizeof appendages inferiortooth Distribution KwaZulu-Natal,South NorthMalawi, SouthMalawi, Congo, IvoryCoast Africa Tanzania,Uganda Mozambique, Uganda,Zaire Zambia,Zimbabwe N.B. The A. pinheyicolours are those in life, while the colours of the other taxa are those of variously preserved specimens Measurements (inmm). — Total length38-39, abdomen 32, hindwing22. HABITATANDBEHAVIOUR. — Thehabitatwas ashallow(<50cm), small(± 1000 m2), grass-andlily-chokedpanwithfringing rank grass,thickbushandtrees.The malehoveredslowly and glided intheshadeand sunflecksamongthelong grass andbushes atthemargin.Thefemalewassometimesinthesamehabitat,butmore frequentlyclosetothewateramongtheemergentgrassstems,whereshewasvery camouflaged. Copulation was intheshade among thelong grassandbushes. DISCUSSION As pointed out by PINHEY (1972)care mustbetakenwhencomparing thepale colours of preserved Aciagrion spp. which show varying degrees of fading depending on the qualityofpreservation. Hereonly patternand morphology will be considered definitively. ThemaleofA.pinheyi is very similarto that described by PINHEY(1972) as possibly themaleofA. hamoniFraser, the holotype ofwhich is a female.This female,however,was fromtheIvory Coastandthetentatively assigned malefrom Zaire, so themaleherewillbereferredtoasAciagrion ? hamoni.Anotherspecies very similartoA.pinheyi isA. g.gracile(Sjostedt, 1909),withasecondsubspecies A. gracile attenuatumFraser, 1928.Comparative featuresofthese fourtaxa are given in Tab.I. There are not many specimens of these four taxa and although theirextent of occurrence is great,theirareasofoccupancy (sensu IUCN, 1994)are small.This geographical isolationofsubpopulations and populations has inevitably led to considerablegeographical variation.Nevertheless,A.pinheyishowssomeconsistent differences. A.pinheyi differsfromA. ? hamoniin labrum, postclypeus, vertex, prothorax, synthorax and abdominalsegment 2 colourpattern. In side view the superior appendage of,A.pinheyi isnot sharply conicalas inA. ? hamoni.nor is theinferior appendage so square-ended. Theteethoftheinferiorappendages also differ, being a curved spine inA. ? hamoni. Also, the inferiorappendages in A.pinheyi are distinctly longer thanthe superiorones, whileinA.hamoni,they arealmostequal. Although the postclypeus of A.pinheyi is similar to that ofA. g. gracile, it is 116 M.J. Samways quite differentfromthatofA. g.attenuatum. A.pinheyi, although havingasimilarly markedvertex toA. g.gracileandA. g. attenuatum,hasadifferentprothoracicand synthoracic pattern. A. pinheyi is consistently much smaller thanthe other two taxaandhas fewerpostnodal crossveins. Theanalappendages havesimilarshaped spines tothoseofthetwoA. gracile subspecies, although thespine ofthesuperior appendages is proportionately much larger than that of theinferiorappendages. Also, in side view, these spines cannot be seen(as also in A.?hamoni). whereas they canbeinA. g. gracileandA. g. attenuatum. Themostcharacteristic distinguishingfeatureof.A.pinheyiisthedeeply-notched flange ofthe mesostigmal lamina,whichis aridge bothinA?hamoniandthetwo subspecies ofA. gracile. Inthefield. A.pinheyi canberecognised by itssmallsize, narrow, well-defined stripes and brown smudges around the pterostigmas. This last feature is not definitive, as one Mozambique A. g.attenuatum specimen has them, as dosome otherAciagrion species (PINHEY, 1972).WithinSouthAfrica, A.pinheyi is easily distinguished in the fieldfrom Enallagma andPseudagrion spp. by its slender build,bluishgreenandblackheadcombinedwithabright greenandblack thorax, dorsally black abdomen which is green at the sides ofthe first few segments, combinedwitha brightbluetip. Similarly, thefemaleisalso instantly recognised by itslight greenandblack thoraxand bright salmon pink abdomen. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Ms MELINDA HATTON for help with manuscript preparation,and to Dr STEVE BROOKS for comparisonwith specimens in the Natural History Museum. London. Financial support was from the National Research Foundation. REFERENCES BRIDGES, C.A., 1994. Catalogueofthe family-group, genus-group and species-group names ofthe Odonata ofthe world (3rdedn). CharlesA. Bridges, Urbana. IUCN, 1994. IVCN RedList categories. IUCN,Gland, Switzerland. PINHEY, E., 1972. The genus Aciagrion Selys (Odonata). Occ. Pap. natn.Mus. Rhod. (B) 5(1): 1-59. PINHEY, E., 1984. A survey ofthe dragonflies (Odonata) ofSouth Africa. Pt 1.7. ent. Soc slh Afr. 47(1); 147-188.