InternationalJournalofOdonatology Vol.14,No.2,June2011,171–174 The female of Leptobasis melinogaster González-Soriano (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) JohnC.Abbott* TexasNaturalScienceCenter,BrackenridgeFieldLaboratory,TheUniversityofTexasatAustin,2907 LakeAustinBlvd.,Austin,TX78703,USA (Received21February2011;finalversionreceived24March2011) The female of Leptobasis melinogaster González-Soriano, 2002 is formally described and illustrated. FemaleL.melinogaster canbedistinguishedfromthesevenotherknowncongenersbytheshapeand presenceofaventrallobebelowtheroundedlateralmarginsoftheposteriorandmedianlobesofthe prothoraxaswellasbythedarkapicesonthefemora. Keywords: Leptobasis melinogaster; female description; Odonata; Zygoptera; Coenagrionidae; damselfly;USA Introduction LeptobasismelinogasterGonzález-Soriano,2002wasdescribedfromtwomalescollectedinthe states of Jalisco and Oaxaca Mexico. It was not reported again until 2004 when a population wasdiscoveredontheKingRanchinKlebergCounty,Texas,USA(Abbott,2004).Anadditional populationwasdiscoveredatSantaAnaNationalWildlifeRefugeinHidalgoCounty,Texas,USA. Bailowitz,Danforth&Deviche(2009)reporteditforasecondtimefromMexicosincetheinitial description,findingitinSinaloaalongthewest-centralcoastofMexico. ThegenusLeptobasisSelyswasrecentlyredefinedbyGarrisonandvonEllenrieder(2010)to includeChrysobasisRácenis.Thegenusnowincludessevenspeciesdiagnosedbythefollowing combinationofcharacters:aroundedfrons,CuPreachinghindmarginofwing,CuArelatively short,supplementarypretarsalclawvestigial,andthepresenceofapairofchitinized,flap-like, movableprocessesdirectedposteriorlyonthedistalsegmentofthegenitalligula.Intheirredefi- nition,GarrisonandvonEllenrieder(2010)includedL.melinogasterintheirkeytofemalesand illustratedthemesostigmalplates,butthefirstformaldescriptionofthefemaleofthisspeciesis presentedhere. *Email:[email protected] ISSN1388-7890print/ISSN2159-6719online ©2011WorldwideDragonflyAssociation DOI:10.1080/13887890.2011.576200 http://www.informaworld.com 172 J.C.Abbott Descriptionofthefemale Material (8 (cid:2)(cid:2))TEXAS: Kleberg Co., Santa Gertrudis Creek, King Ranch, 2August 2006 (1 (cid:2)), leg. J. Sinclair&T.Langschied(DRP);TEXAS:KlebergCo.,SantaGertrudisCreek,KingRanch,16 October 2006 (1 (cid:2)), leg. T. Langschied (DRP); TEXAS: Kleberg Co., Santa Gertrudis Creek, KingRanch,17October2006(1(cid:2)),leg.J.Sinclair(UNAM);TEXAS:HidalgoCo.,SantaAna National Wildlife Refuge, 25 June 2005 (1 (cid:2)), 23 May 2009 (2 (cid:2)(cid:2)), leg. J.C.Abbott (UTIC); TEXAS: Hidalgo Co., Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, 9 June 2010 (1 (cid:2)), leg. M. Reid (UTIC);TEXAS:CameronCo.,SabalPalmAudubonSanctuary,8October2008(1(cid:2)),leg.M. Reid(UTIC).SpecimensdepositedintheUniversityofTexasInsectCollection(UTIC),personal collectionofDennisR.Paulson(DRP),andColecciónNacionaldeInsectos(CNIN),Universidad NacionalAutónomadeMexico(UNAM). Head Labrumblue-greenwithdarkspotmediallyalongposterioredge;anteclypeusblue-green;post- clypeusgreenwithbrownovalspotinlateral1/4;fronsblue-greenanterolaterally,tanmedially; postocularspotslarge,triangular,andgreen. Thorax Anteriorlobeofprothoraxblue-green,tanlaterally;middlelobebrownwithpairedgreenstripe parallelingmedianlineandseparatedbythinstripeofbrown,greenspotlateraltostripe,lateral edgeofmedianlobegreenwithroundedcornersposteriorly;posteriorlobebrown,lateraledge slightlyraisedandconvexwithposteriormarginrounded(Figure1a).Lateraledgeofmedianand posteriorlobesoverlyingnarrowsupplementaryshelf.Pterothoraxpalegreen,withbrownmedian stripe twice as wide as brown humeral stripe, antehumeral stripe green, ventral surface cream- colored. Mesostigmal plates brown in medial half and green in lateral half, rounded laterally, concavemedially(Figure1b).Femorapalewithdarkenedapices,tibiaandtarsipalewithedges ofsegmentsoutlinedinbrown,distalhalfoflasttarsalsegmentandtarsalclawsandremaining armaturedark. Wings Wings hyaline with brown veins; pterostigma brown, a parallelogram with all sides subequal, subtendingslightlylessthanonecell(Figure1c),forewingwithninepostnodalcrossveins(10in one(cid:2)),7–9postnodalcrossveinsinhindwingwithaverageof8. Abdomen S1–S3 green, S4–S10 blue laterally. S1 with brown medial spot, S2 with brown spot dorsally at distal fourth of segment and brown stripe along middorsal carina. S3–7 black dorsally with expansionlaterallyindistal1/7th-1/6thofsegment.S8–S10withbrowndorsalstripenotreaching distal end of segment and with pale median notch at posterior end (Figure 1d). Posterior edge ofS7–9withbluering.NovulvarspineonS8.Distaledgeofoutervalveofovipositorserrated. Ovipositorvalvesrelativelystraight,extendingwellbeyondcerci(Figure1e). Thefemaleof LeptobasismelinogasterGonzález-Soriano 173 Figure 1. Leptobasismelinogaster female:(a)posteriormarginofprothorax,witharrowindicatingsupplementary shelf;(b)mesostigmalplates;(c)wings;(d)S8-S10,dorsalview;(e)S8–S10,lateralview. Measurements(inmm) Totallength35–40;abdomenlength29–33;hindwinglength18.5–21.5;ovipositorwithoutstylus 1.54–1.85;stylusofovipositor0.30–0.36. Colorationinlife(Figure2) Maturefemaleswithgreeneyes;intensegreenonantehumeralstripe;lateralcolorofabdomen mergingfromgreentoblueposteriorly.Juvenileindividualshavesamecolorpattern,buteyestan andgreensandbluesarereplacedbytans. Figure 2. FemaleLeptobasismelinogastershowingcolorsinlife:(a)mature;(b)juvenile. 174 J.C.Abbott Diagnosis Leptobasismelinogasterfemalescanbedistinguishedfromthesevenotherknowncongenersby theshapeandpresenceofaventrallobebelowtheroundedlateralmarginsoftheposteriorand medianlobesoftheprothorax.Darkapicesoffemoraareunique;allotherfemalecongenershave largelypalefemora. Biologicalnotes Males are typically more in evident at ponds, but females can be abundant. Both sexes tend to perchonoverhangingbranchesandvegetation,oftenrestingatheightsof1–2m.Theyflythrough thesetangles,makingthemdifficulttofollow.Itisunknownwhethertheysurviveextendeddry periods as adults or in the egg stage. No global conservation ranking has been assigned to this species, butAbbott (2011) assigned it a state ranking of S2 (Imperiled because of rarity [often 6–20extantoccurrences]orbecauseoffactorsmakingitvulnerabletoextinctionforTexas). Acknowledgements IthankBarrettA.KleinforhisrenderingsofLeptobasismelinogaster inlife(Figure2).RosserGarrisonandNatalia vonEllenriederkindlyprovidedcommentsonanearlydraftofthismanuscript.SantaAnaNationalWildlifeRefuge providedaccessandallowedcollectionofspecimensunderSpecialUsePermit#21552-05-3-DRB,21551-09-10-MS, and21551-10-02-ID. References Abbott,J.C.(2004).AsummerfortherecordbooksinTexas.Argia,16,16–17. Abbott,J.C.(2011).DamselfliesofTexas:Afieldguide.Austin,TX:UniversityofTexasPress. Bailowitz,R.,Danforth,D.,&Deviche,P.(2009).WestMexicoupdated.Argia,21,15–18. Garrison,R.W.,&vonEllenrieder,N.(2010).RedefinitionofLeptobasisSelyswiththesynonymyofChrysobasisRácenis anddescriptionofL.mauffrayisp.nov.fromPeru(Odonata:Coenagrionidae).Zootaxa,2438,1–36. González-Soriano,E.(2002).Leptobasismelinogasterspec.nov.,anewspeciesfromMexico(Zygoptera:Coenagrion- idae).Odonatologica,31,181–185.