The imagos of some enigmatic members of the Hermanella complex (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae)

Abstract

The imago stages of three species of the Hermanella complex are described mostly based on material from Roraima, northern Brazil: Hydrosmilodon gilliesae, Hydromastodon sallesi and Leentvaaria palpalis. Male imagos of Hydrosmilodon gilliesae and Leentvaaria palpalis both have a pair of large, broad projections at the posterior margin of the styliger plate, nearly covering the penis lobes; in Leentvaaria palpalis, however, these projections are fused. The male imago of Hydromastodon sallesi resembles Hydrosmilodon plagatus in that both species have a styliger plate with a robust projection that is curved towards the penis lobes. DNA barcoding is likely to be a powerful investigative tool for identifying and understanding species limits among these Ephemeroptera taxa, especially if it is used within an integrative taxonomic context. An updated identification key to the genera of the Hermanella complex is proposed.

Unmasking a gap: A new oligoneuriid fossil (Ephemeroptera: Insecta) from the Crato Formation (upper Aptian), Araripe Basin, NE Brazil, with comments on Colocrus McCafferty

“…There are several known instances of associations between larvae and adults that were later proved to be mistaken [ 10 ]. Even when dealing with extant individuals, it is hard to associate larvae and imagoes based only on morphological characters, and in most situations a precise identification can be made only by rearing them [ 10 ] or using DNA tools such as barcoding [ 17 , 18 ]. There are oligoneuriid larval individuals described for the Crato Formation (the holotypes of Colocrus indivicum McCafferty, 1990—AMNH 43484 and Colocrus magnum Staniczek, 2007—SMNS 66624).…”

Leptophlebiidae Banks, 1900 (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) from Maranhão state, Brazil

“…Remarks. Salles et al (2016) described the male imago with eyes separated on the meson of head by a short distance (less than 0.5 times the width of the median ocellus). However, we found specimens with the eyes not separated, meeting on meson of the head (Fig.…”

“…The identifications, diagnoses, and known distribution were based on Domínguez et al (2006) and by careful comparisons to the original descriptions (e.g. Salles et al 2016;Nascimento et al 2017). The material examined is housed at the following locations: Coleção Zoológica do Maranhão (CZMA), Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, Caxias, Brazil; Laboratório de Entomologia Aquática (LEAq), Caxias, MA, Brazil.…”

“…We observed variations in the male genitalia of two species: Hydrosmilodon gilliesae and Thraulodes marreroi. Regarding the first, Salles et al (2016) illustrated short (in lateral view) ventral spines converging medially on the penis lobes and apparently not reaching the basal half. In our specimens, we observed that these spines are long, about the same length as the penis.…”

The Haeckelian shortfall or the tale of the missing semaphoronts

“…Moreover, unlike most other taxonomic characters, sequence polymorphisms are maintained throughout the life cycle (Gattolliat & Monaghan, 2010). This way, molecular techniques have proven to be an important ally in associating distinct semaphoronts (e.g., Elías‐Gutiérrez et al., 2019; Jiruskova & Bocak, 2015; Miller et al., 2005; Salles et al., 2016; Wei & Ren, 2019; Yeo et al., 2018).…”