Description of the larva of Tauriphila argo Hagen, 1869 from São Paulo, Brazil (Anisoptera: Libellulidae)

4 Pages·1994·0.61 MB·English

by  Costa, J M

Odonatologica23(1):51-54 March I. 1994
Description of the larva of
Tauriphilaargo Hagen, 1869 from SãoPaulo, Brazil
(Anisoptera: Libellulidae)
J.M.Costa and C.V. De Assis
DepartmentofEntomology,Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro,
Quintada Boa Vista,BR-20942.040 RiodeJaneiro, RJ. Brazil
Received March 10, 1993 /Revised andAcceptedOctober 6, 1993
The finalinstar isdescribed and comparedwiththat ofT.australis Hagen. 1867
andTauriphilasp.?Needham &Fisher, 1936. Itis the first larval stagedescribed of
any Tauriphilafrom SouthAmerica.
INTRODUCTION
Thegenus Tauriphila Kirby, 1889includes five valid species; T. argo Hagen,
1869 (South and Central America); T. australis Hagen. 1867 (South America,
Central America and southern United States), T. azteca Calvert, 1906 (Central
America); T.risi Martin,1896andT.xiphea Ris, 1913(bothfromSouthAmerica).
The final larval instarof T. argo is described and compared with previous
descriptions of T. australis and Tauriphila sp.? Needham & Fisher. 1936.The
description andfigures are based on a femaleexuviae.
DESCRIPTION
Figures 1-6
Material. — 1 9 exuviae (preservedin 70% alcohol). Parquc Nacionalda Serra da Bocaina
(all. 1800m). RiodeJaneiro, 25-11-1977, N.D. Santos& J.M.Costa leg.The adultfemaleemerged
in Riode Janeiro, IO-III-1977.
The larva is small brownish, withoutsignificant pattern.
HEADwiderthanthorax.Eyes roundedlaterally (Fig. 1).Antennae7-segmented.
mandibles(Fig. 2) asymmetric; left mandiblearmed with 4incisive teethand 3
52 J.M- Costa& C.V. De Assis
molar teeth; right mandible armed with 5 incisive teeth and 4 molar teeth;
mandibleformula(according to WATSON, 1956):
L 12340 abd/R 1234 y abed.
Labiumlarge,reaching themesostemum. Prementum(Fig.3) with14premental
setae of varying size; the distal margin with 9 setae ofequal size on each side
and2 apical setae;one short stoutseta ateachlateral margin atthejunction with
the labialpalps. Labial palp (Fig. 4) large with small brownish spots; eachpalp
with 9 palpal setae and a basal groupof7 minute setae; distal moveablehook
larger thandistalsetae butsmaller thanproximal cres; distalmargin ofpalp with
11 very shallowcrenulations,eachbearing 1-5 setae(thenumberofsetae at each
crenulation starting with the moveablehook is: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 3, 2);
inner margin with 19 setae of varying size; outer margin withouthairsor setae.
THORAX with supracoxal process minute.Wing pads reaching thedistal extre-
mity ofabdominalsegment VI. Legs long with bristle-likehairs.
abdomen (Figs 5-6) cylindric, widest at segment VI. Middorsal hook on
segments IVto VIII; they inverse insize from segmentIVposteriorly, withthose
on segments IV and V being small, that on segment VI reaching the posterior
borderofthatsegment,that onsegmentVII extending aboutonethirdthe length
ofsegmentVIII andthatonsegment VIII reaching the distalborderofsegment
IX; the hooks on segments VII and VIII bear hairs along their dorsal border.
Lateral spinesare presenton segmentsVIII andIX; thaton segmentVIIIstraight
and extending to halfof themid-dorsallength ofsegment IX, that on segment
IX curved up andtwice as long the length of segment IX, reaching about half
way along the paraproct. Epiproct triangular with aminute spine on its dorsal
border. Paraprocts distinctly longer than the epiproct and curved down,bearing
hairs on thetips. Cerci reaching one third length ofthe epiprocts, curved down
and distinctly pointed.
Measurements (inmm). — Total length (excludingantennae): 19,65; antennae3.49;the
lengthofeach segmentfrombaseoutwardis:0.25;0.29;0.65;0.50;0.63; 0.67;0.55; lengthofhead
4.35; width ofhead5.85; lengthofeyes 1.98; widthofeyes 1.9; length ofprementum 5.92;basal
width ofprementum 2.24; maximum widthofprementum 5.36; lengthoflabial palps 3,68; length
offore wingpads 5.4;length ofhind wingpads 5.85; lengthoffemors (FI 3.75, F24.65,F3 6.75);
lengthoftibia (T1 3,45,T2 4.65, T37.2); lengthofabdomen 12.75;widthofabdomen6; lengthof
lateral spine ofsegment VIII0.8;basal width0.32; lengthoflateralspineofsegment IX 1.73;basal
width 0.48; lengthofdorsalhook ofsegment VII0.88;basal width 0.32;length ofdorsal hook of
segment VIII 1.2;basal width 0.4; lengthofepiproct 1.04; lengthofparaproct 2.16; lengthofcercus
0.27.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
NEEDHAM & WESTFALL(1955) show aphotograph ofthe larvaofTauri-
phila australis and indicate, in a tableofLibellulidaelarval characters? dorsal
hooks onabdominalsegments111-IX inthegeneraTauriphila,Perithemis, Macro-
themisandDythemis. DythemisalcebiadesiSantos, 1945,D. canacrioidesCalvert,
Larva ofTauriphilaargo 53
Figs 1-6.Tauriphilaargo Hag.,structural featuresoftheultimate larval instar:(I)head, dorsalview;
— (2) mandibles: (a) left,(b)right inner surface: — (3)prementum, dorsalview: - (4) leftlabial
palp,dorsal view; — (5) abdomen, lateral view; — (6) abdomen, dorsal view.
1906,D. constricta Calvert, 1898,D. schubartSantos, 1945andD. williamsoni
Ris, 1919,are now included in ElasmothemisWestfall, 1988.The larvae of E.
williamsoni,E. constricta andE. cannacrioideshavedorsal hooks on abdominal
segmentsIII-VIII, butthoseoftheotherspecies inthislattergenusareundescribed
54 J.M.Costa&C.V. DcAssis
(SANTOS, 1988).
The larvaofT.argodescribed inthispaperdiffersfromT. australis(illustrated
by NEEDHAM & WESTFALL, 1955)and from Tauriphila sp.? (described by
NEEDHAM, 1936)only by having dorsalhooks onabdominalsegments IV-VIII.
The lack of a description ofthe larva of T. australis and the description of
Tauriphila sp.? (species by NEEDHAM & FISHER. 1936, not identified) lead
us to doubtwhether the respective species are referableto Tauriphila.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by CNPq and UFRJ. We should like to thank Professor JOSE
ROBERTO PUJOL-LUZ(UFRJ)andProfessorALCIMARDOLAGOCARVALHO(UFRJ)forsug-
gestions.
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