Progomphus zephyrus Needham from the Dominican Republic, West Indies: description of adult male (Anisoptera: Gomphidae)

5 Pages·1993·0.7 MB·English

by  Daigle, J J

Odonatologica22(2): 197-201 June I.1993
Progomphuszephyrus Needham
from the Dominican Republic, West Indies:
description of adult male
(Anisoptera: Gomphidae)
J.J.Daigle
DepartmentofEnvironmental Regulation,2600 BlairStoneRoad,
Tallahassee, Florida32399-2400,United States
Received December 16,1992/AcceptedJanuary 27, 1993
The sp.washithertoknown fromthe larva only.Adetailed descriptionandfigsof
theadultmalearepresented,and somefieldnotes areprovided. Theadultfemale still
remains unknown.
INTRODUCTION
In 1941,NEEDHAM describedProgomphus zephyrus from larvaehecollected
in the DominicanRepublic. No larvaewere reared to adults duringhis tripand
he did not collect any adults. Recently, four adult males suspected to be P.
zephyrus were collectedthereby Dr S.W. Dunkle and myself. Two adult males
identifiedas P. serenus Hagen werekindly sent to me by Dr O.S. Flint, United
States NationalMuseumandDrM.J. Westfall, FloridaStateCollectionofArthro-
pods. Upon examinationthesespecimens proved identicalto thefour suspected
P. zephyrus. Ibelieve the specimens describedhere are P.zephyrus because itis
very likely there are only two species of Progomphus on Hispaniola, and P.
zephyrus is the bestavailable name.
BELLE(1992)describedateneralfemaleand anexuviaefromtheDominican
Republic as Progomphus zephyrus. With the permission ofthe collector, R.W.
Garrison,Iexaminedthat teneralfemaleandtheexuviae, plus two other teneral
femalesandonemale. Allthe materialwas collectedfrom theRioInoa on June
5, 1987. I have determinedthe four adults to be P. serenus.
Icompared the Rio Inoa teneralfemales with both a mature and ateneral P.
serenus sent to me by Sidney W. Dunklefrom two other DominicanRepublic
198 J.J. Daigle
localities.Thethoracicpatterns ofall the examinedfemalesare similiarto each
other.They are consistent withthe thoracic pattern ofmaleP. serenus. I believe
thefemaleP. zephyrus thoracic pattern willresemble that ofthemale. Also, all
the examinedfemales had an elevation or tuberclebetween the lateralocellus
and theeye border.
Theexuviae was collectedseveral inchesaway fromthe teneralfemale.How-
ever, the exuviae is not P. serenus! The shape of the slender third antennae
segment resembles thatofP. zephyrus. I have a larva ofP. serenus taken from
the wide, shallow Rio Camu in the Dominican Republic. This larva has the
unique globose, inflatedthirdantennae segment ofP. serenus. P. serenus adult
males were veryabundanton theRioCamu,perching on the sandbars or nearby
rocks. However, 1 did not collect any P.zephyrus on the RioCamu.
Isuspect thattheemergenceoftheP.zephyrus occurred beforethethreeteneral
P. serenus, possibly the day before. No other exuviae were found near them at
that RioInoasite. I have collectedboth species together atthe Arroyo Bermejo.
Therefore,Ibelievetheteneralfemaleanditssuspected exuviaearenotassociated.
Progomphus zephyrus appears toberestricted to theDominicanRepublic and
possibly Haiti. P. serenus is also known only from these countries. A closely
related species, P.integer Hagen is known only from Cubaand Jamaica.
PROGOMPHUS ZEPHYRUS NEEDHAM, 1941
Figures 1-7
Material. — DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Distrito Nacional, ArroyoBermejo,4 km NNE of
Hatillo, 3-VI-I989, J.J.Daigleleg., 2 6,(JJD andSWDcollections); — samelocation, 29-V-I99I,
S.W.Dunkle leg.. I 6,(SWDcoll.); — La Vegaprov.,ArroyoAnaMarie, 10.9km SWofAutopista
Duarte onroad to Jarabacoa, ongrounds of "Centro Vacational Turisto Racquet Club” about 0.7
kmNofentrance, 9-VI-1989, JJDleg., 1 <J, (JJD coll.); - LaVegaprov.,nrJarabacoa, 4-VI-1969,
O.S,Flint. & J.Gomez leg., 1 d,(USNM coll.); — San Cristobalprov,. LaTomaN ofSan Cristobal,
9-VI-I969,OSF & JGleg,. 1 d, (FSCAcoll.).
Dimensions (mm). - Total length includingcerci 40-42, abdomen 30-32, and hindwing
23-24.
Head. — Eyes in life darkblueabove, grayish blue below;antennae black.
Labrumgrayish whitewithblack basalmedianspot widenedbasally; anteclypeus
grayish white,postclypeus black,faciallobesextensively white(Fig. 1).Antefrons
black,postfrons grayish white,frontalfurrowblackbasally. Vertexblack,grayish
or grayish-brown posteriorly; occiput gray margined with black. Occipital ridge
black; rear ofheadblack with dark yellow spot belowoccipital ridge.
Thorax. — Prothorax black except middle lobe cream-white with black
median furrow. Pterothorax black with cream-white stripes; middorsal carina
white, antealar crest black. First pale antehumeralstripe much reduced and not
connected to pale mesothoracic collar; second pale antehumeral stripe nearly
AdultmaleofProgomphuszephyrus 199
Figs 1-7. ProgomphuszephyrusNeedham, 6:(I)face, frontal view; — (2)thoracic pattern; — (3)
posterior hamules, ventralview; — (4) posteriorhamule, lateral view; — (5) appendages,dorsal
view; — (6) appendages,lateral view; — (7)appendages,ventral view.
full-length andnotjoined withother pale stripes (Fig. 2). First pale lateralstripe
very thin anteriorly, thenwideneddorsally. Widesecondpale lateralstripe inter-
rupted dorsally, third pale lateral stripecomplete; sternum light brown.
Legs. — Femorabrownwith pale flexorarea, kneesblack. Tibiae,tarsi, and
claws black.
Wings. — Hyaline, some brown in extreme base; costa blackish-brown.
Forewing with 14-16antenodalcrossveins, 9-12postnodals; hindwing with 10-
200 J.J. Daigle
-12 antenodals, 10-13 postnodals. Basal subcostal crossvein present (rarely 2).
Triangles 3-celled(rarely 2), subtriangles 2-celled in all wings. Blackish-brown
pterostigma surmounting 5-7 cells.
Abdomen. — Black withthin, whitebasal rings. Segment 1 with afinger-
-like ventral projection, tergite blackish brown with mid-apical brown spot and
dull yellow ventral areas basally. Segment 2 blackish-brown with pale dorsal
stripe; auricleandposterior lateralspotobscure yellow,genital foldwhite.Poste-
riorhamulesstoutwith 5-6black basoventral tubercles, darkbrown basally, pale
mid-ventrally, then black with hook glossy black (figs 3-4). Anterior hamules
brown,aboutas high as shoulderofposterior hamules.Hoodofpenis darkbrown,
cupped anteriorlytoreceive penisflagellae. Segment 3black withthin, interrupted
dorsal stripe; small whitebasaltriangle laterally. Segments 4-6 black with thin,
whitebasal rings, occasional white mid-dorsaldot and lateroventralwhite dot.
Segment 7black withthinwhitebasalringwidening laterally,pale mid-lateroven-
tralspot.Segment 8 withlarge yellowish mid-lateroventralspot.Segment 9black
with smallmid-lateralbrown spot. Segment 10black.
Appendages. — Superior appendages black, occasionally pale at apical
third with sharp acuminatepoint (Figs 5-6). Inferiorappendages curved inward
when viewed ventrally (Fig. 7), tips bluntly bilobed without any sharp teeth;
supero-extemal tooth broadly blunt with two rounded tubercles.
FIELD NOTES
Inthefield, thedarkermaleProgomphus zephyrus canbe separated from the
palerP. serenus bythereducedfirstpale antehumeralstripe whichdoesnotreach
the pale stripe onthe collar. The anterior portion ofthe first pale lateral stripe
is very thin,almost invisibleinP.zephyrus. In contrast, thisstripe is muchwider
throughout itslength inP. serenus. Theblack postclypeus areas are morereduced
in P. zephyrus and donot resemble the black ”goggle-eyes” look ofP. serenus.
P. integer hasa white-spotted thoracicpattern insteadofthepale striped pattern
foundinP. serenus andP.zephyrus. Also,P. integerhasa distinctivepale crescent
onthe metepimeron.
NEEDHAM’s (1941) description of P. integer larvae from the Dominican
Republic is sosimiliarto P. zephyrus larvae, Ibelieve them tobe the same; so
only serenus and zephyrus occur on Hispaniola.
The habitatappears to be theheadwatersofsmall, forested montane streams.
All theobserved males perched inconspicuously onstreamside shrubs or rocks
back in theshade, never onrocks in themiddleofsunny, openstreams orrivers
like P. serenus. Companion odonateswere Hypolestes trinitatisGundlach,Proto-
neura viridis Westfall, Telebasis vulnerata Hagen, and an occasional Aeshna
psilus Calvert and ProtoneuradunkleiDaigle at theArroyo Ana Marie site.
A femaleProgomphus was observed ovipositing over a shallow gravel riffle
Adultmale ofPrngomphuszephyrus 201
area in the Arroyo Ana Marie before escaping into the trees. No larvae were
founddespite extensive sifting thereand elsewhere in the seepagestream. The
P. zephyrus exuviae site (BELLE, 1992)was a 50-60foot wide shallow stream
at 480 meters elevation, according to the collector. Dr R.W. Garrison (pers.
comm.).Furthercollecting inthe hillsofHispaniola shouldreveal moreexuviae,
larvae andadults ofthis elusive Caribbeangomphid.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Iwish tothank DrSIDNEYW.DUNKLE,DrROSSERW.GARRISON,Dr KENJ.TENNESSEN,
and Dr MINTER J.WESTFALLforreview and comments.
REFERENCES
BELLE, J., 1992.Studies onultimateinstar larvae ofneotropicalGomphidae,with the description
ofTibiagomphusgen.nov.(Anisoptera).Odonalologica21(1): 1-24.
NEEDHAM, J.G.,1941. Life historystudiesonProgomphusanditsnearest allies(Odonata:Aeshni-
dae). Trans. Am. ent.Soc.67: 221-245.