The “African” genusArgiagrionis a BrazilianLeptagrionspecies and the “Philippine”Moroagriona EuropeanPyrrhosoma(Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

2013·0.05 MB·

by  Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra

InternationalJournalofOdonatology,2013
Vol.16,No.2,189–191,http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2013.799990
The “African” genusArgiagrion is a Brazilian Leptagrion species
and the “Philippine” Moroagrion a European Pyrrhosoma
(Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
Klaas-DouweB.Dijkstra*andVincentJ.Kalkman
NaturalisBiodiversityCentre,POBox9517,NL-2300RA,Leiden,theNetherlands
(Received8April2013;finalversionreceived24April2013)
Argiagrionleoninum,knownonlyfromthefemaleholotypeallegedtobeWestAfrican,isshowntobe
ajuniorsynonymoftheBrazilianspeciesLeptagrionmacrurum.Moroagriondanielli,knownonlyfrom
themaleholotypethoughttobefromthePhilippines,isajuniorsynonymoftheEuropeanPyrrhosoma
nymphula.Argiagrion and Moroagrion were both monotypic genera and become junior synonyms of
LeptagrionandPyrrhosomarespectively.
Keywords: Odonata;damselfly;Zygoptera;Africa,Philippines
Introduction
InthispaperthestatusesofthepoorlyknownmonotypicgeneraArgiagrionandMoroagrionare
discussedandbothareshowntobesynonymsofspeciesfromcompletelydifferentbiogeographic
regions.Mislabellingormisinterpretationofthelabeloftheholotypesobscuredtheirtrueidentity
for 137 and 74 years respectively. In a similar recent case, the genus Skiallagma Förster, 1906
presumed to be Brazilian was shown to belong to the Oriental genus Xiphiagrion Selys, 1876
(Garrison,2012).
Systematicpart
Leptagrionmacrurum(Burmeister,1839)
ArgiagrionleoninumSelys,1876syn.nov.
TelebasisleoninaSelys,inlitt.(nomennudum)
ThegenusArgiagrionanditsonlyspeciesA.leoninumweredescribedbySelys(1876)fromSierra
Leone. The female holotype held at the Natural History Museum (London, UK) is unlike any
damselflyknownfromtheAfricancontinent(Dijkstra,2003)byitsrobuststatureanddistinctive
markings: entirely blue face, dark dorsum of head without postocular spots but with a broad
*Correspondingauthor.Email:[email protected]
©2013WorldwideDragonflyAssociation
190 K.-D.B.DijkstraandV.J.Kalkman
blue band between eyes across vertex, brown synthorax with broad blue stripes and blue spot
onmesepimeronnearwingbase,largelyblackS2withapicalpalering,largelyblackS3–6with
subapicalpalerings,andS7–10blackwithpaledorsumofS8(seeSupplementaryMaterial,S1–
Supplementary material is available via the article webpage). In these features it agrees with a
femaleofLeptagrionmacrurumfromBrazilinthesamecollection.Femalescanbeassignedto
thegenusLeptagrionbythefollowingcombinationofcharacters:fronsangulate;anteriorportion
ofmesepisternalackingtuberclesorhorns;cubitalcross-veins(“analcrossing”)joininganalvein
atwingmargin;veindescendingfromtipofquadrilateralcellnotrunningstraighttowingmargin;
S8lackingvulvarspine,posterodorsalmarginofS9withdenticles,dorsumofS10notcleft,and
ovipositoratmostreachingtipofcerci.Uniquely,theovipositorvalvesofsomespecieshaveteeth
inirregulargroups,notinasinglerow(Garrison,vonEllenrieder,&Louton,2010;R.Garrison,
personalcommunication,2013).Theholotypeagreesinalldetails,althoughthefronsisridged
weaklyand,whilethevalvesappeartohavecomplexrowsofdenticles,thesearecoveredwith
dirt.Theshapeoftheprothoraxandpterostigma,aswellasthecolourofS8,fittheL.macrurum
femaleasdiagnosedbyCostaandGarrison(2001)andalsoagreewiththeaforementionedfemale.
ThesynonymousgeneraLeptagrionandArgiagrionweredescribedinthesamepublicationand
asfirstrevisersweselectLeptagrionasthevalidname.
Pyrrhosomanymphula(Sulzer,1776)
MoroagriondanielliNeedham&Gyger,1939syn.nov.
The genus Moroagrion and its sole species M. danielli were described by Needham & Gyger
(1939)intheirtreatmentofPhilippineZygoptera.Thedescriptionwasbasedon“onemalefrom
Guara,P.I.,10VII’03”,where“P.I.”waspresumablytakentostandforthePhilippineIslands.
The authors provided a detailed description and illustrations of the wings and appendages in
dorsalandlateralview.Wereceivedphotographsofthefragmentedholotype(seeSupplementary
Material,S2)heldattheCornellUniversityInsectCollection(Ithaca,USA).Theillustratedcerci
bearalongposteriorlydirectedventralprocessattheirbase.Suchacercalspurischaracteristicof
somegeneraofCoenagrionidae(DeMarmels,2007).Althoughtheillustratedparaproctperhaps
appears slightly too long, the figure of the appendages and the toothed border of S10 fit the
WesternPalaearcticPyrrhosomanymphulawell.Numerousdetailsinthedescriptionsupportthe
similarityfurther:stoutbody;blackheadcoveredwithstiffhairsandboldyellowfacialbands,
but without postocular spots; black thorax with orange antehumeral stripe broken near wing
baseandlargelyyellowmetepimeron(erroneouslycalledmetepisternumbyNeedham&Gyger,
1939)invadedanteriorlybyblack;blacklegs;largelyorangeabdomenwithbroaddorsalblack
on S7–9 absent apically.While P. nymphula is vividly red in life, this discrepancy is probably
due to discoloration. The description leaves no doubt that Moroagrion is a junior synonym of
Pyrrhosoma.Threefurtherspeciesofthatgenusareknown,buttheChinesespeciesP.latiloba
Yu,Yang, and Bu, 2008 and P. tinctipenne (McLachlan, 1894) have more extensively yellow
synthoracicsidesnotinterruptedbyablackmetapleuralstripe(Yuetal.,2008).Thesouth-east
EuropeanendemicP.elisabethaeSchmidt,1948hasthecercalspurlessthanhalfaslongasthe
main axis of the cercus (Kalkman & Lopau, 2006). We believe the locality “Guara, P.I.” may
refertotheSierradeGuarainnorth-easternSpain,aregionfromwhichP.nymphula isknown
(Dijkstra&Lewington,2006).TheinitialsPandIcouldrefertothePyreneesandIberia.
Acknowledgements
JasonDombroskieandJohnFrielhelpedtoobtainimagesofMoroagrion.RosserGarrison,AngeloMachado,Rafael
FerrariandNataliavonEllenriederprovidedcommentsonLeptagrion.
IdentityofArgiagrionandMoroagrion 191
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