Pseudagrion fumipennis, a remarkable new species of damselfly from New Guinea (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) Dan A. Polhemus, John Michalski & Stephen J. Richards Pseudagrion fumipennis sp. nov. is described from widely separated localities in the lowlands of New Guinea and immediately adjacent islands. It is the first known coenagrionid from the Papuan region to possess brown-tinted apices on all four wings. The new species appears to be structurally most similar to P. farinicolle from New Guinea and P. ustum from Sulawesi, but its precise relationships are obscure. Dr. D. A. Polhemus *, Department of Natural Sciences, Bishop Museum 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, HI 96817 USA. [email protected] J. Michalski, 223 Mount Kemble Avenue, Morristown New Jersey 07960, USA. [email protected] S. J. Richards, Vertebrates Department, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, S.A. 5000, Australia. [email protected] Introduction Material and methods The coenagrionid genus Pseudagrion Selys is dis- All measurements in the following descriptions are tributed widely from south Asia through Melanesia, given in millimeters. CL numbers in the Material with at least 42 described species recorded from Examined section refer to collection locality num- the region between India and the Solomon Islands bers used by the senior author to cross reference (Tsuda 1991). In New Guinea and the Moluccas specimens, field notes, and habitat photographs. the genus is represented by 10 described species The holotype of Pseudagrion fumipennis is depos- (Ris 1915; Lieftinck 1932, 1937, 1949), but addi- ited in the Australian Museum of Natural History, tional undescribed taxa are known from the region. Sydney (AUSM); paratypes are deposited in the During recent field surveys in the vast lowland rain- Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (USNM), forests of New Guinea, two of us (DP, SJR) collected and the Bishop Museum, Honolulu (BPBM). a distinctive new species in this genus (Polhemus 1995, 1998, 2000; Polhemus et al. 2004; Richards et al. 1998), described herein. Taxonomy The new species is tentatively identified as a mem- Pseudagrion fumipennis sp. nov. ber of Pseudagrion based on its wing venation and Figs 1–5 male terminalia. However, it is set apart from all other New Guinean Coenagrionidae by the rich Type material. – Holotype ?: Papua New Guinea: chestnut color which decorates the apices of all four Gulf Prov., Sapoi River, 2 km S. Ivimka Camp, wings. Lakekamu Basin, 146o29’45”E, 7o44’05”S, ca 100 m a.s.l., 29 November 1996, coll. S.J. Richards Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 151: 51-56, Figs 1–6. [ISSN 0040-7496]. http://www.nev.nl/tve © 2008 Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging. Published 1 June 2008. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 10:57:08AM * Corresponding author via free access 52 Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, volume 151, 2008 Fig. 1. Pseudagrion fumipen- nis, male habitus. Specimen from upper Kwabunamoa River, Sideia Island, Papua New Guinea. (AUSM). Paratypes: Papua New Guinea, Gulf Prov.: Description of male Lubu River above Omo, 50 m., water temp. 19o Size. A moderate sized damselfly; overall colora- C., 1 March 1995, 09:00–12:00 hrs. 06o58’41”S, tion brown and black, with pronotum and sides 144o18’15”E, CL 7002, D. A. Polhemus, 1? of thorax densely pruinose (Fig. 1). Body length (BPBM). Southern Highlands Prov.: Ai’io River 38–47 mm (mean = 42.0 mm, N = 8); abdomen at pipeline road, NE of Hedinia in Hedinia Valley, length 32–40 mm (mean = 35.0 mm, N = 8); fore 480 m., water temp. 23.5o C., 23 March 1995, wing length 23–27 mm (mean = 25.0 mm, N = 7); 10:00-11:00 hrs., CL 7032, D. A. Polhemus, hind wing length 20–28 mm (mean = 23.5 mm, 1? (BPBM). Milne Bay Prov.: Sideia Is., upper N = 7). Female unknown. Kwabunamoa River, in south central inte- Colour. Male: head with labium beige, rear of head rior, 20 m. [65 ft.], 10o35’59”S, 150o50’54”E, black with whitish pruinosity. Labrum pale with a water temp. 29o C., 15 January 2004, median black spot along hind margin, which is also 11:30–14:00 hrs., CL 7288, D. A. Polhemus, thinly lined with black. Clypeus blackish, top of 2 ? (USNM). Indonesia: Irian Jaya Prov. head deep rich dark brown, the ocelli each ringed [= Papua Prov.]: 1 male, rainforest stream approx. with black. Occiput blackish, with barely visible 0.5 km. E. of PTFI Siewa exploration camp, 60 m. dark brown postocular spots. Thorax with pronotum [200 ft.], 3o02’08”S, 136o22’40”E, water temp. dark brown to black, covered by whitish pruinosity. 26o C., 11 April 1998, 09:00–11:00 hrs., CL 7089, Hind lobe fringed with long tan hairs. Mesepister- D. A. Polhemus (USNM); 1 male, same locality num rich dark brown, bearing scattered, very slen- as above except 21 April 1998, D. A. Polhemus der, erect, brown setae; mesopleural suture covered (USNM); 1 male, small intermittent stream with by a black stripe, this stripe rounded along dorsal pools in lowland forest at Kuala Kencana light indus- margin just below wing bases, upper terminus of trial park, N. of Timika, 90 m. [300 ft.], 4o26’13”S, this stripe hooked downwards and facing posteriorly, 136o51’50”E, water temp. 25o C., 27 March 1997, anterior section narrowing evenly to a fine point 13:00–14:00 hrs., CL 7043, D. A. Polhemus which ends before reaching anterior (lower) end of (USNM); 1 male, tributary to Iweka River, approx. mesopleural suture. Sides of thorax rich dark brown, 3 km. W. of Kuala Kencana, N. of Timika, 90 m. metapleural suture thinly marked with black, entire [300 ft.], 4o24’05”S, 136o50’06”E, water temp. side of thorax covered in whitish pruinosity posterior 25o C., pH 6.95, 26 March 1997, 09:00–12:30 hrs., to mesopleural suture, leaving only upper portion CL 7042, D. A. Polhemus (USNM). of mesepimeron exposed. Legs, including femoral and tibial spines, black. Wings with overall colora- tion hyaline, with rich brown pigment enfusing the Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 10:57:08AM via free access Polhemus et al.: New species of Pseudagrion from New Guinea 53 Fig. 2. Pseudagrion fumi- pennis, holotype male, right wings. 3 4 Figs 3–4. Pseudagrion fumi- pennis, male terminalia. 3. Left lateral view. 4. Dorsal view. Specimen from Lubu River, Papua New Guinea. membrane of both pairs of wings from the apices to Etymology a point five cells proximal to pterostigma in fore- The name “fumipennis” is treated as an adjective, wing, four cells proximal to pterostigma in hindwing and refers to the embrowned wing apices of this (Fig. 2). Abdomen black dorsally, dark brown ven- species. trally. S1 covered with whitish pruinosity. Male ter- minal appendages entirely blackish. Distribution Structural characters. Legs with femoral spines short, Pseudagrion fumipennis is widely distributed across length subequal to or shorter than width of femur; southern New Guinea, from Sideia Island on the tibial spines relatively short, angled distally, length eastern side of the China Strait, westward through approximately 2 the width of the tibia. Abdo- the Lakekamu, Kikori, and Ajkwa river basins; two men with male terminal appendages as in Figs 3 specimens also at hand from the lowlands of the & 4; cercus roughly diamond-shaped when viewed Wapoga River basin, on the northern side of the cen- laterally, length approximately 2 that of parap- tral ranges in west-central New Guinea (Fig. 5). roct, posterior apex slender and bluntly acute when viewed laterally, hooked when viewed dorsally, cen- Comparative notes tral section of cercus bearing a vertically oriented, This interesting new coenagrionid is the only New triangular process arising from broad inner dorsal Guinean member of its genus and family to pos- shelf, apex of this process sharply acute; paraproct sess dark brown pigment in the apices of each wing elongate in lateral view, apex blunt, rounded. Male (Fig. 1), although this pigmentation is superficially secondary genitalia with penis shaft slender, bifur- similar to the wing patterning seen in certain Moluc- cate distally; sperm vesicle roughly in the form of an can and Melanesian species in the chlorocyphid elongate triangle with the apex directed anteriorly, genus Rhinocypha. Within the Coenagrionidae, anterior apex rounded, with a pair (1+1) of small, P. fumipennis falls most comfortably in the genus rounded lateral lobes; posterior section expanded, Pseudagrion, sharing structural and color features posterior margin truncate, membranous, with a shal- with P. farinicolle Lieftinck, 1932 from New Guinea low medial indentation; anterior hamulae roughly and P. ustum Selys, 1876 from Sulawesi. The previ- quadrate. ous taxonomic ambiguity that has accompanied this species in the existing literature can be gauged by the Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 10:57:08AM via free access 54 Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, volume 151, 2008 Fig. 5. Distribution of Pseudagrion fumipennis on New Guinea and nearby is- lands. fact that it has been treated in past publications as frequenting reaches shaded by intact or at best lightly “Teinobasis (?) sp. nov.” by Richards et al. (1998), disturbed primary lowland forest. To date, it has “Teinobasis (?) n. sp.” by Polhemus (1998), and as never been found in numbers; instead, only single “Teinobasis sp. undet. #1” by Polhemus & Polhemus individuals are collected after an entire day spent (2000). Despite these previous provisional inden- along a given stream, during which time dozens of tifications, we now feel on the basis of subsequent specimens of other species of Pseudagrion, Nososticta, analysis that this species is in fact most properly and Idiocnemis will have been netted by a compe- assignable to Pseudagrion. tent collector. One of us (DAP) has observed this In particular, P. fumipennis shares with P.