Table Of ContentMATTI HÄMÄLÄINEN
DepartmentojAppliedZoology, UniversityojHelsinki
DESCRIPTION OF NEUROBASIS DAVIESISV. N. FROM
PALAWAN, WITH TAXONOMIC NOTES ON OTHER
SPECIES OF THE CHINENSISGKOXJ? (ODONATA,
A^.
CALOPTERYGIDAE)
Hämäläinen, M. 1993. DescriptionofNeurobasisdaviesisp.n. fromPalawan,with taxonomie
notesonotherspeciesoftheTV. chinensisgroup (Odonata,Calopterygidae).-Tijdschriftvoor
Entomologie 136: 133-136, figs 1-4. [iSSN0040-7496]. Published 10December 1993.
Neurobasisdaviesisp.n. (holorypemale,Brooke'sPoint,S. Palawan) isdescribedinbothsexes.
Thenewspecies isclosestto theBornean A^. longipesHagen, 1887,which isconsideredtobe
specificallydistinctfromA^. chinensis(Linnaeus, 1758).Akeyforbothsexestothethreerecog-
nizedspeciesoftheA^. chinensisgroupispresented.
M. Hämäläinen, P.O. Box53, FIN-02151 Espoo, Finland.
Keywords.—Nenrobasis;Palawan;newspecies;key.
Aswell pointedoutbyLieftinck (1949, p. 13-15), In males the breadth ofthe wings and the relative
the definition ofthe limits ofeach species in the ge- size ofthe metallic area in the hind wing and in fe-
nus NeurobasisSelys, 1853 has always been difficult males the presence or absence as well as the size of
and subject to considerable personal interpretation. pseudopterostigma and the size ofthe whitish nodal
Thisapplieswellalsotothepresentassessmentofthe spots are subject to considerablevariationwithin the
taxonomie status of a new Neurobasis taxon from vastrangeofthespecies. Documentationofthisvari-
Palawan, work on which necessitated a reconsidera- abilityand revealingitsnatureisworthofathorough
tion ofLieftinck's (1940, 1954) view ofrecognizing study.
three subspecies in Neurobasis chinensis (Linnaeus, Resultsofthisstudywouldalso beuseful in decid-
1758), viz. chinensis, florida Hagen and longipes ing on the taxonomie status oftheJavanese popula-
Hagen. tions, which indeed differ most from the topotypical
In myopinion it is difficult to regard longipesand Chinese populations. Lieftinck (1940, 1954) consid-
florida to have an equal status as 'subspecies of ered theJavanese populations to represent a distinct
chinensis'. Whereas the Javaneseflorida comes quite subspecies-floridaHagen, 1854. Healsopointedout
near to the continental forms, the Bornean longipes the very confusing usage ofthe nameflorida in the
differs markedly from them and represents a distinct early literature and concluded that the original de-
goodspecies. scription oifloridaapplies to theJavanese specimens
only. However, the correct citation to the author of
floridashouldhçHagen inWalker, 1853.
Neurobasischinensis(Linnaeus, 1758)
(figs. 1-2).
NeurobasislongipesHugen, 1887stat. n.
A'^ chinensisis awidelydistributed insect in South
and South-EastAsia. It is known to extend from NE (fig. 3).
PakistaninthewesttoSouthChinaSeaintheeast.In This species is universally distributed in Borneo
the western part of its range it spreads from NE and itoccurs in lowlandstreams inforestedareas.
Pakistan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and The following briefcomparison with chinensisex-
NepalinthenorththroughwholeIndiatoCeylon. In plains my decision to consider longipes as a distinct
the eastern part its area extends from Fujien and species. In longipes
Yunnan provinces in China southwards to the - the size is smaller and the whole appearance is '-
Malaya Peninsula, Sumatra (& Simalur and Nias) slimmer'
andJava. - legs are proportionally longer in both sexes; espe-
133
TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume i36.iy')3
Figs. 1-4.Wingsofmales(notinscale).- \, N. chinensis.NorthThailand;2,N. chinensis{ssp.florida).WestJava;3, A^. lon-
gipes, Borneo,E.Sabah;4,TV.daviesisp.n.,Palawan (pararype).
cially the anterior femora are very long, in male as nensis the dorsum ofsegments 3 and 4 is similarly
longand in female longer than the length ofthe 3rd shining metallic green as on segment 2; the metallic
abdominalsegment (in chinensismuchshorter) colourgettingdarkergreen moreapicad
- in the male hind wing the opaque colouring is - whitish nodal spots and pseudopterostigma are
muchmorereducedatbase(Fig. 3); insubcostalfield lackinginallwingsofthefemale.
startingatthelevelofca. 10thantenodalandbelowat
thelevelofapicalendofquadrangle The species was originally described by Hagen
-inmaletheshapeofhindwingsisdifferent(Fig. 3), (1887) as 'Abart' oichinensison the basis ofa single
thebroadestpointissituatedusuallybeyondthemid- male specimen from Mindai. Hagen's contribution
dleofits length; forewingbasewithonly2complete remained unnoticed by other authors, like Kirby
rows ofcells between the lowest sectoroflA and the (1890), de Selys Longchamps (1897) and Förster
wingborder (1897), who treated the genus in detail. Lieftinck
-femaleisdifferentlycoloured; metallicgreencolour (1940), who had studied a series ofspecimens from
onthoraxhasastrongcopperytintinsteadofemerald differentpartsofBorneo, reintroducedthename lon-
metallic green in chinensis. In abdomen the shining gipestoapplytoall Borneanspecimensandpresented
metallic green colour on dorsum is restricted to seg- acompletelistofearlyreferenceson thistaxon.
ments 1 and 2, the rest beingdark brownish; in chi-
134
Hämäläinen: Nenrobasisdaviesisp. n.
Neurobasisdaviesisp. n. Wings hyaline with yellowish tint; as in longipes,
(fig. 4). thehindwingsonlyslightlymoreheavilytinted than
Type material. - Holotype 6: Philippines, Palawan, the forewings. As in longipes, no trace ofpseudopte-
Brooke'sPoint,(325m), l.viii. 1980,Leg. R.B. Rodriquez; rostigma or whitish nodal spots in fore and hind
in Museum Leiden (rmnh). - Paratypes: 16, locality and wings.
date as in the holotype (rmnh); 56, Philippines, S. Measurements. Forewing38.5-39 mm, hindwing
P(arlmanwha)n;,19B(r5o,ok4e9',sPPhoiilnitp,pine1s9,82P,alaLweag.n,RM.ataB.lanRgoadoriRqiuveezr 40-41 mm, abdomen47.5-48.5 mm.
[between Roxas and Port Barton], 21.xii.l975, [collector
datalost, probablyR. B. Rodriquez] (coll. D.A. L. Davies, Etymology. - The new species is named after Dr
Cambridge, U.K. ;6d,29 incoll. M. Hämäläinen). D. A. L. Davies (Cambridge, U.K.) to appreciate his
diligent efforts to search for dragonfly rarities in dif-
Description ferentcornersoftheglobe.
Instead ofa detailed description, I prefer to high-
lightthecharactersbycomparison ofthenewspecies Discussion.-Inspiteofthestrikingsizedifference,
with A^. longipesandN. chinensis. N. daviesiisasome- daviesiseemstobenearerto longipestha.nto chinensis.
what larger insect than chinensis and very distinctly Thisisapparentespeciallyfromthefemalecharacters:
largerthan longipes. longlegs,absenceofnodalspotsandpseudopterostig-
Male. - Colouring ofhead resembles that ofchi- main allwingsandbrownishcolouringofabdomen.
nensis. However, the yellow colour on labrum is re- However, thecolouringofthoraxisslightlydifferent.
stricted to form two widely separated spots. Thorax Males show more 'intermediate' characters between
brilliant metallicgreen as in the relatedspecies. Sides chinensisand longipes.
of thorax showing, however, a slight coppery hue. IthinkthatitisbettertototreatN. daviesiasadis-
Legslong;anteriorfemoraproportionallylongerthan tinctspecies,ratherthanasubspecieso^longipes. Both
in chinensis, butshorterthan in longipes; shorterthan taxahavewell defined separate ranges in different is-
the length ofthe 3rd abdominal segment. Abdomen lands,althoughseparatedonlybythenarrowBalabac
metallic green with pale markings on sides of seg- Strait.
ments 1-2 as intheotherspecies. It is remarkablethat N. daviesiis missingfrom the
Wings. Theshapeofhindwingis closerto that in large dragonfly collection amassed by Roland A.
longipes than in chinensis (Fig. 4). Opaque metallic Müllerand his coworkers from manylocalities (even
area in hind wing extends more basad than in lon- fromMatalangao River) indifferentpartsofPalawan
gipes, but base ofhind wing distinctly less coloured in 1985-1992. TV. daviesiis either avery rare species
than in chinensis. Hindwingborderatbaseasbroad- or(mostlikely) itsflyingperiodisconfinedtothead-
ly hyaline as in the Javanese specimens of chinensis vanced rainyseason. The bulkofMiiller's specimens
(ssp.ßoridd),butthelinewiththeopaquepatchmuch havebeen collectedatthebeginningoftherainysea-
less distici. As in the otherspecies the hind wing re- son in May-Juneorduringthedryseason in March.
flectsbrilliantmetallicgreenorbluecolouraccording
to angle ofview; the apical third with violaceous re- KeytothespeciesofNeurobasischinensisgroup
flections. The intensity ofthe metallic reflections is
less pronounced than in chinensis, thus theouterline Males
ofthemetallicpatchlookslesssharp. 1. Hind wing broadly hyaline at the base; opaque
Measurements. Forewing35.5-37 mm, hindwing patch starts at the level of the apical end of
33.5-35 mm; abdomen48-49 mm. quadrangleatthecentralpartofthewing. Infore
wingonlytwocompleterowsofcellsbetweenthe
Female.-Ratherrobustinsect.Thoraxlessshining lowestsectoroflAandthewingborder.Anterior
metallicgreen than in chinensis. Thecolouringofab- femoraaslongasthelengthofthe3rdabdominal
domen resembles that of longipes, metallic green segment longipes
colouring being restricted to dorsum of segment 1 - Hyaline area in hindwingbase less extensive. In
and the basal 4/5th ofsegment 2. Rest ofthe abdo- forewingatleast3 rowsofcellsbetweenthelow-
men brown, darkerbrown on dorsumofsegments6- estsectoroflAandthewingborder. Anteriorfe-
10. Dorsal carina narrowly yellow broadening to a morashorterthan the length ofthe 3rd abdomi-
typical bandonsegments 8-10. nalsegment 2
Legs very long, proportionally longer than in chi- 2. At hindwing base thewhole subcostal and cubi-
nensis. Anterior femoraas longas the 3rd abdominal tal fields opaque and reflecting strong metallic
segment. Hindfemoraextending(inenvelopedspeci- colour (only 1-2 basal cells ofcubital field hya-
mens) beyond halfofthe 3rd abdominal segment as line) chinensis
in longipes. - Several hyaline or subhyaline cells in subcostal
135
.
TijdschriftvoorEntomologie,volume 1.%.1993
References
and cubital fields at base; metallic reflections very
slightatwingbase daviesi Förster, F., 1897. Contributionsalafauneodonatologique
Indo-Australe.-AnnalesdelaSociétéEntomologiquede
Females HagBeenl,giquHe.,41:1280847-.2U1e1b.er Neurobasis und Vestalis. -
1 Allwingswith (moreorlessdistinct)whitish no- Abhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft
dalspots.Abdominalsegments3-4predominant- inWien37:647-648.
lyshiningmetallicgreenondorsum chinensis Kirby, W. F., 1890.AsynonymiecatalogueofNeuroptera
- No whitish nodal spots present on wings. Ab- Odonataordragonflies.With an appendixoffossilspe-
dominal segments 3-4 predominantly brownish cies.-Gurney&Jackson,London.
ondorsum 2 Lieftinck,M.A., 1940. DescripnonsandrecordsofSouth-
2. Anteriorfemoraclearlylongerthan thelength of Lieefatsitncaks,iaMti.cOA.d,on1a9t49a.(ITIh).e-dTrrageounbfilaie1s7:(O3d3o7n-a3t9a0).ofNew
the 3rd abdominalmsmegment. Small species, hind Guineaandneighbouringislands.PartVII.Resultsofthe
winglessthan 35 longipes Third Archbold expedition 1938-1939 and of the Le
- Anterior femora as long as the length ofthe 3rd Roux Expedition 1939 to Netherlands NewGuinea (II.
abdominal segment. Large species, hind wing Zygoptera).-NovaGuinea(N.S.) 5: 1-271.
over37mm daviesi Lieftinck, M.A., 1954. HandlistofMalaysian Odonata.A
catalogue of the dragonflies of the Malay peninsula,
Sumatra,Javaand Borneo, includingthe adjacentsmall
Acknowledgements islands.-Treubia(Suppl.)22:i-xiii+ 1-202.
SelysLongchamps,E.de, 1897.CauseriesOdonatologiques
I am intebted to DrsJan van Tol (rmnh, Leiden) No 10. - Annales de la Société Entomologique de
and Dr D. A. L. Davies (Cambridge, U.K.) for the Belgique41:427-432.
loanofthenecessaryspecimensandforvaluablecom-
mtheanntkssoanreaanlseoardluieertvoerMsironMaotfttiheViimtaansuasacrriipatn.dMMyr RReevciesievdedve1rsSieopntaecmcbeeprte1d99134October1993
ReinoTyyneläforthewingphotographs.
136
