Big diversity in a small hotspot: two new species of Leptophlebiidae (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) from New Caledonia

Two new species from Grande Terre Island, New Caledonia, namely Fasciamirus petersorum sp. nov. and Simulacala rara sp. nov. are described based on larval morphology and molecular data (COI sequences). Fasciamirus petersorum sp. nov. is distributed in the southern part of the island and is characterised by a reduced third segment of the labial palps and all abdominal gills divided from the base. The species inhabits slow-flowing aquatic habitats with fine-grained substrate in forest brooks. Simulacala rara sp. nov. is known from a single locality in the northern part of the island and is characterised by narrow and distinctly elongated abdominal gills 1–7. It was collected from fine substrates behind stones in riffles with slightly turbulent flow. Both species were recorded only in areas with ultramafic bedrock

A new species of Epeorus (Caucasiron) (Ephemeroptera, Heptageniidae) from Azerbaijan and Iran

A new species, Epeorus (Caucasiron) hyrcanicus sp. nov., is described based on larval morphology and molecular data (COI) containing sequences from all Caucasian Caucasiron species described to date. The species is distributed in the Hyrcanian forest of southeastern Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran. Based on our wide-range sampling, the new species is likely endemic to this area. The most pronounced larval morphological diagnostic characters are the coloration pattern of abdominal sterna (a pair of oblique stripes and stripe-like medio-lateral maculae) and terga (triangular medial maculae), poorly developed projection of the costal margin of gill plates III, presence of hair-like setae on the surface of abdominal terga, and relatively wide shape of gill plates VII (in natural position from ventral view). The diagnostic characters are compared to related species, and primary information to habitat is provided

Systematics of mayflies (Ephemeroptera) of the family Baetidae

The current thesis reviews a cross-section of studies dealing with several problems of systematics of the mayfly (Ephemeroptera) family Baetidae. It is based on classic morphological characters as well as molecular-based methods in order to solve specific taxonomic problems and reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the selected taxa

New fossil stoneflies (Plecoptera: Arctoperlaria) from Australia testify ancient dispersal across Pangea

The stonefly suborders Arctoperlaria and Antarctoperlaria reflect the current division of the diversity of this insect order between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. However, there are several exceptions to this pattern, the most notable being the family Notonemouridae, which is phylogenetically deeply subordinate within the northern Arctoperlaria, but distributed in South Africa, South America, and Australia. Various hypotheses have been proposed regarding the circumstances of their dispersal to the south. Some estimated their origin as relatively recent, with long-distance dispersal to the southern continents in the Late Cretaceous or early Paleogene. On the other hand, fossils of Notonemouridae have been dated to the Middle Jurassic, proving the lineage is very ancient. However, all known notonemourid fossils originate from Asia and the timing of their dispersal to the south cannot be precisely estimated. Here we report new fossil stoneflies from the Late Jurassic Talbragar Fish Beds, Australia, described as Talbragaria australis gen. et sp. nov. and attributed to Notonemouridae. This finding represents the first fossil evidence of the northern suborder Arctoperlaria in the Southern Hemisphere, and confirms the north-to-south dispersal of Notonemouridae across Pangea prior to the continental break-up

Updated check-list of the mayflies (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) of Iraq

Based on a recent field survey in Iraqi Kurdistan and a critical evaluation of previously published data, 37 mayfly species are listed as occurring in Iraq. We collected and identified nine species as new for the country and corrected some previously published records. For several species scarcely treated in the literature, we provide information allowing their identification in the larval stage to promote the acquisition of reliable faunistic data from Iraq in the future

Talbragaria australis Sroka & Prokop 2023, sp. nov.

<p>3.2. Talbragaria australis sp. nov.</p> <p>Figs 1, 2</p> <p>Plecoptera sp. in Beattie and Avery (2012: fig. 8D, F)</p> <p>Diagnosis.</p> <p> The new species is distinguishable from all other known fossil Notonemouridae by the combination of the following characters: crossvein mp-cua ca 1.2 × longer than rp-ma; mp-cua crossvein ca 1.6 × longer than the longest crossvein in the area between CuA and CuP (on contrary, mp-cua crossvein more than twice as long as the longest crossvein in the area between CuA and CuP in closely related genus <i>Paranotonemoura</i> Cui and Béthoux, 2018); length of second tarsomere subequal to two thirds of third tarsomere length; female with pronounced corrugated subgenital plate on abdominal sternite VIII and corrugated anal plates on segment IX, narrowed posteriorly.</p> <p>Etymology.</p> <p>The name refers to country where holotype and paratype specimens were found.</p> <p>Type material.</p> <p> <b>Holotype</b>: F.136 856 (part) and F.136 857 (counterpart), female imago. - <b>Paratype</b>: F.137 576 (part) and F.137 577 (counterpart), female imago.</p> <p>Type locality and strata.</p> <p>The Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed site is approximately 25 km northeast of Gulgong in New South Wales, Australia (Beattie and Avery 2012). Stratigraphically the unit is correlated with the Purlawaugh Formation of the Surat Basin and corresponding to the latest Oxfordian-Tithonian, Upper Jurassic.</p> <p>Description.</p> <p> Body length ca 10-12.5 mm. - <b>Head</b>: Prognathous, ca 1.2 × longer than wide (Fig. 2C). Antennae probably nearly completely preserved, visible portions up to 0.7 × body length (Fig. 2A, B). Compound eyes rounded, positioned laterally. Ocelli not visible. Clypeus trapezoidal, approximately twice wider than long (Fig. 2C). Labrum rounded anteriorly. Other mouthparts not recognizable. - <b>Thorax</b>: Prothorax rectangular, ca 1.5 × wider than long, lateral margins rounded (Fig. 2A, B). Meso- and metathorax equal in length, each ca 1.4 × longer than prothorax. Two pairs of fully developed wings. Forewing incomplete, probably slightly longer than body. Forewing venation only partially preserved (Fig. 1A, B, F-H), ScP adhered to RA and again diverges from it more distally, RA simple, crossvein between RA and RP close to the point of connection of ScP with RA. Further two crossveins between RA and PR more basally. RP bifurcated just distally from the crossvein between RA and RP. Two crossveins between RP and M in proximal portion of wing, further oblique slightly sigmoidal crossvein between RP and M more distally, close to RP bifurcation. Hind wings preserved only fragmentary in anterior part, course of discernible veins (C, ScP, RA and RP) identical to forewing (Fig. 1A, B, F-H). Legs slender, length increases from forelegs to hind legs. Femora and tibiae elongated, femora ca 4-6 × longer than wide, tibiae ca 10-14 × longer than wide. Tarsi incomplete, with only second and third tarsomeres preserved; length of second tarsomere subequal to two thirds of third tarsomere length (Fig. 1C). Claws approximately as long as third tarsomere width. - <b>Abdomen</b>: Elongate, narrow, ca 5 × longer than wide. In female, pronounced, well sclerotized and corrugated subgenital plate on sternite VIII (Figs 1D, E, 2D, E). Sternite IX produced posteromedially into narrow corrugated subanal plates. Male genitalia unknown. Cerci short, one-segmented (Fig. 1D, E).</p> <p>Additional Plecoptera specimens.</p> <p> Apart from the holotype and paratype of <i>Talbragaria australis</i> <b>gen. et sp. nov.</b>, two further specimens of Plecoptera from the same locality were identified in the collection of the Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia under accession numbers F.136 851 (part and counterpart, Fig. 2F,G) and F.137 324 (Fig. 2H). Due to their state of preservation and lack of diagnostic characters, it is not possible to attribute them unambiguously to <i>T. australis</i> <b>gen. et sp. nov.</b>, although due to their similarity in size they might be conspecific.</p>Published as part of <i>Sroka, Pavel & Prokop, Jakub, 2023, New fossil stoneflies (Plecoptera: Arctoperlaria) from Australia testify ancient dispersal across Pangea, pp. 881-888 in Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 81</i> on page 881, DOI: 10.3897/asp.81.e10983

Talbragaria Sroka & Prokop 2023, gen. nov.

<p>3.1. Genus Talbragaria gen. nov.</p> <p>Diagnosis.</p> <p>By monotypy, as for the type species.</p> <p>Type species.</p> <p> <i>Talbragaria australis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> by present description.</p> <p>Etymology.</p> <p>Named after the locality Talbragar where the holotype and paratype specimens were found.</p>Published as part of <i>Sroka, Pavel & Prokop, Jakub, 2023, New fossil stoneflies (Plecoptera: Arctoperlaria) from Australia testify ancient dispersal across Pangea, pp. 881-888 in Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 81</i> on page 881, DOI: 10.3897/asp.81.e10983

Electrogena gibedede Godunko & Sroka, sp. nov.

<i>Electrogena gibedede</i> Godunko & Sroka, sp. nov. <p>Figures 1–34</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> <i>Male imago.</i> Size: body length 7.5–8.0 mm, forewing length 8.0–9.0 mm, cerci length 20.0–24.0 mm (approximately 2.5 times longer than body).</p> <p>Head brown with paler clypeal part; compound eyes divided grayish dorsally and black ventrally (Figs. 1, 17). No stripes or bands on head. Ocelli black. Antennae pale brownish.</p> <p>Prothorax brown dorsally, paler in central part; ventrally dark brown (Fig. 17). Meso- and metahorax brown dorsally with light yellowish smudges; ventrally dark brown. Thorax laterally pale, yellowish with brownish sclerites (Fig. 17).</p> <p>Legs slender, all pairs with 5–segmented tarsus with one sharp and one blunt claw. Forelegs generally darker than other legs. Forefemur proximally pale brown, with darker margins. Distinct dark brown transversal band approximately at 2/3 of femur length (Fig. 17). Distal part of forefemur brownish. Dark brown transversal band also at distal end of femora, at articulation with tibia. Foretibia brown, darker than femur. Tarsal segments I–IV brown, slightly paler than tibia. Last tarsal segment darker, brown. Tarsal claws brown. Middle and hind legs of same coloration as forelegs; femora pale brown, with darker brown spot situated approximately at 2/3 of femur length. Tibia and tarsi brownish, darker than femur.</p> <p> Wings hyaline, transparent, with easily visible brown venation. Costal and subcostal field slightly milky colored (mainly in pterostigmatic area). Pterostigma with several cross veins. Wings with typical of <i>Electrogena</i> venations.</p> <p>Abdominal tergites laterally brown with whitish pattern, consisting of pale triangles visible on laterocaudal portions of each tergite. Additionally, pairs of elongated pale spots situated dorsally on tergites, to side of central thin longitudinal pale line (Figs. 2, 3, 19). Sternites pale brownish, with very indistinct whitish pattern in central part, consisting of two oblique elongated spots situated frontally and two dots caudally. Distal part of sternite IX white. Neural ganglion visible in sternite VII.</p> <p>Cerci dark brown basally, towards distal end getting paler, with dark bands following individual articulations. Every second articulation more pronounced, accompanied by more distinct dark band than those between them. These differences are visible mainly in central part of cerci. All surface covered with dark hairs. Paracercus vestigial.</p> <p> <i>Genitalia</i>: Styliger plate with apparent rounded projections on posterior margin. Forceps brown, on the proximal portion darker. Surface of forceps with numerous tiny rounded projections on inner side (Fig. 4). Penis with contrasting brown pigmentation. Penis lobes somewhat squared basally with abrupt step at outer margin of basal parts of penis lobes. Lobes separated distally with wide interspace, U or V–shaped (Figs. 5, 6, 21, 22). On dorsal side of penis lobes 1–2 larger teeth situated near lateral margin, may be accompanied by 1–2 smaller teeth, reaching length of approximately 1/3 of larger ones (Fig. 6). Titillators with small teeth apically.</p> <p> <i>Female imago.</i> Size: body length 8–8.5 mm, forewing length 9–10.2 mm, cerci length 16–18 mm (approximately 2 times longer than body).</p> <p>Head brown, compound eyes and ocelli black (Fig. 18). Antennae brown, paler basally.</p> <p>Thorax dorsally and ventrally dark brown. Lateral portions yellowish. Legs more robust than in male imago. Femora and tibiae of similar coloration as in male imago. Tarsi uniformly dark brown. In some specimens middle and hind tarsi paler centrally (segments III and IV). Wings hyaline, transparent, with well visible brown venation. Costal and subcostal field slightly milky (mainly in pterostigmatic area).</p> <p>Color pattern of abdomen similar to those in male imago, slightly paler (Fig. 20). Neural ganglion visible on sternite VII. Subgenital plate widely rounded, reaching articulation of segment IX. Subanal plate distinctly bent.</p> <p>Cerci dark brown basally. Towards distal end getting paler, with dark bands following individual articulations. Every second articulation more pronounced, accompanied by more distinct dark band than those between them.</p> <p>These differences more distinct than in male imago and disappear only in distal third of cerci. All surface covered with dark hairs. Paracercus vestigial.</p> <p> <i>Male subimago</i> Size: body length 8 mm, forewing length 8–9 mm, cerci length unknown.</p> <p>Head and antennae dark brown.</p> <p>Prothorax brownish. Mesothorax dorsally pale yellowish (especially in central part), with dark brown areas frontally, caudally and laterally. Lateral portions of mesothorax between wing insertion and coxae pale yellowish, with occasional darker sclerites. Ventral side of thorax mainly uniformly brownish or yellowish brown.</p> <p>Forefemora brown, with darker margins and two darker transversal bands distally (at approximately 2/3 of the femur length and near articulation with tibia). Foretibiae uniformly brown, slightly darker at articulations. Tarsi 5– segmented, with one sharp and one blunt claw. Tarsal segments I–IV of the same color as tibia, segment V and claws darker. Middle and hind legs generally paler than forelegs. Middle femora yellowish brown, with brown patch at approximately 3/5 of femur length. Further area dark brown. Middle tibia of same color as middle femur, dark brown only at articulation with femur. Middle tarsus 5–segmented, with one sharp and one blunt claw. Tarsal segments brownish, most distal segment and claws darker. Hind legs of same arrangement and color pattern as middle ones. Wings dull brownish with dark brown venation. No patches of darker coloration. Hind margin with row of tiny hairs.</p> <p> Abdominal tergites I–X brown with two hooked, approximately <i>L</i> –shaped whitish spots situated laterally near the tergo-sternal suture. Longitudinal part of each <i>L</i> –shaped spot is pointing caudally. On tergites I, IX and X, these spots are not pronounced in some specimens. <i>L</i> –shaped spot may be accompanied at its caudal end by a single pale dot. Presence of further two longitudinally elongated whitish spots in central part of tergites IV–X. These spots situated near fore margin of each tergite. Central part of tergites I–III paler, thus elongated spots are not apparent. Sternites II–VIII yellowish brown with white pattern in central part, consisting of two oblique elongated spots situated frontally and two white dots caudally. Sternites IX and X brownish, sternite I whitish.</p> <p> <i>Genitalia</i>: Penis lobes yellowish, titillators dark brown. Otherwise penis lobes without any dark markings. Incision between penis lobes indistinct. Typical shape of penis (squared, with abrupt, almost square-angled step at outer margin of basal parts of penis lobes) already well apparent. Titillators with teeth. Penis lobes, styliger plate and forceps densely covered with short hairs. On surface of forceps tiny articulated spines also present.</p> <p>Cerci dark brown, covered with short hairs. Individual articulations of segments with dark bands.</p> <p> <i>Female subimago.</i> Size: body length 8 mm, forewing length 9.5–10 mm, cerci length 11 mm (approximately as long as body).</p> <p>Head and antennae dark brown.</p> <p>Dorsal side of prothorax brown, whitish posteromedially. Mesothorax of same color pattern as in male imago. Metathorax pale brown, darker at base of hind wings.</p> <p>Legs of same arrangement and color pattern as in male imago. Wings uniformly dull brownish with dark brown venation. No patches of darker coloration. Hind margin with row of tiny hairs.</p> <p>Abdominal color pattern same as in male subimago.</p> <p>Cerci dark brown, evenly covered with short hairs. Darker bands at individual articulations.</p> <p> <i>Mature larva.</i> Size: body length (slightly differs between males and females): in male 5.8–6.9 mm; cerci length 7.6–8.2 mm, paracercus length 8.6–9.0 mm; in female 7.0–8.0 mm, cerci length 10.0 mm, paracercus length 11.0 mm.</p> <p>Head brownish with apparent light pattern, consisting of two spots near fore margin approximately in front of lateral ocelli. Further two light spots elongated transversally, situated near antennal bases (Figs. 7, 15). Lateral margins of head light colored.</p> <p>Prothorax yellowish with dark brown pattern. Lateral margins whitish. Longitudinal pale line in middle, extending towards its ends. Dark smudges laterally from this line, interrupted by pale areas near fore and hind margins of prothorax. Meso- and metathorax yellowish with darker brown smudges (Fig. 15).</p> <p> Legs yellowish, with dark brown pattern. Femora with four distinct elongated dark spots dorsally; distal two spots partly fused near tibia insertion (Fig. 12). Tibiae uniformly yellowish, sometimes with dark smudge in central part. Tarsi brownish, indistinctly darker apically. Shape of bristles on dorsal surface of femora in <i>Electrogena gibedede</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> differs depending on leg pair and exact location of particular bristle on surface of respective femur. Bristles on forefemora unique among representatives of genus <i>Electrogena</i>, rounded and widened distally (Figs. 23, 24). Bristles of middle and hind femora more bluntly pointed or pointed, spine-like (Figs. 25, 26). Middle and hind tibiae with rows of hairs, approximately as long as tibia width. Hind tibiae with rows of hairs accompanied by short pointed bristles.</p> <p>Abdominal tergites with pronounced dark brown pattern and only several isolated spots of yellowish color. Each tergite with two light spots placed centrally and further two spots situated more posterolaterally, near hind margin of respective tergite. Moreover, another light smudge may appear posteromedially. This smudge may fuse with two light spots in central part of tergite and connect them together in some cases. Sometimes this light smudge extends even to further two posterolateral spots, forming band of lighter coloration along hind margin of tergite. Extension of posteromedial smudge is common mainly on tergites I–II, IV–V and VII–IX. Therefore tergites III, VI and X appears darker than rest of abdomen (tergite X sometimes even completely dark, without any lighter pattern) (Fig. 15). Isolated broad lighter areas present also laterally, near gill insertions. Abdominal sternites yellowish, well visible neural ganglion in segment VII; brown pattern of sternites mainly absent (Fig. 16). Posterior margin of tergites with the dense row of large spines pointed apically (Figs. 27, 28). Gills whitish with pale brownish tracheization; marginal areas transparent (Figs. 13, 14). Cerci yellow to yellowish-brown.</p> <p> A set of standard larval diagnostic characteristics for identification of <i>Electrogena</i> species is provided below. In the present study we provide states and values for 30 characteristics of <i>Electrogena gibedede</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> Several features treated in the present study had not previously been used for the genus <i>Electrogena</i>, but Haybach (1999) used them for the differentiation of some species of the genus <i>Ecdyonurus</i> Eaton, 1868 (<i>E. venosus</i> species-group). The set comprises namely four characteristics concerning setae on the maxillary palp (N_PLS, N_PLBas, N_VEN, N_LPH). Since the structure of the maxilla of the genus <i>Electrogena</i> is very similar to that of representatives of the <i>E. venosus</i> species-group, these characteristics are used for the genus <i>Electrogena</i> here as well. One new characteristic (S_1GI) is added to the series of the standard diagnostic characteristics. It describes the shape of the first gill plate, which is unique in some <i>Electrogena</i> species (see below).</p> <p>Quantitative characteristics were measured in 13 specimens. Most features states are compared with the related species (focusing mainly on the species from the closely situated geographical regions, e.g. Caucasus Mts., Crimean Peninsula and Anatolia) and respective differences are pointed out.</p> <p> Representatives of the genus <i>Electrogena</i> with known larvae, mostly recorded from the Caucasus Mts. and/or adjacent areas, which were taken for comparison in the list of the standard diagnostic features below, encompass the following species: <i>E. affinis</i> (Eaton, 1883), <i>E. antalyensis</i> (Braasch & Kazancı, 1986), <i>E. armeniaca</i> (Braasch, 1983), <i>E. azerbajdshanica</i> (Braasch, 1978), <i>E. braaschi</i> (Sowa, 1984), <i>E. galileae</i> (Demoulin, 1973), <i>E. kuraensis</i> (Braasch, 1978), <i>E. lateralis</i> (Curtis, 1834), <i>E. malickyi</i> (Braasch, 1983), <i>E. necatii</i> (Kazancı, 1987), <i>E. pseudaffinis</i> (Braasch, 1980), <i>E. squamata</i> (Braasch, 1978) and <i>E. zimmermanni</i> (Sowa, 1984).</p> <p> Due to the general lack of knowledge of the species of the genus <i>Electrogena</i> in the Caucasus Mts., ratio values of quantitative characteristics used in the present study for comparison with <i>Electrogena gibedede</i> <b>sp. nov.</b></p> <p>were in some cases derived from the original drawings. Thus, they can be taken only as a pointer to the most pronounced differences. Moreover, the states of maxillae structure are unknown in most Caucasian species; since descriptions of the species do not often contain any specification of maxillae arrangement.</p> <p> Recent redescriptions of two species (<i>E. galileae</i> and <i>E. antalyensis</i>, see Belfiore & Sartori 1999 and Belfiore <i>et al.</i> 2000, respectively) are most useful for the comparative study.</p> <p>Mean, range and variance are presented for each quantitative characteristic.</p> <p> <i>Quantitative characteristics</i>:</p> <p>1. N_PLP – 15.07, 14–16, 0.46</p> <p> The number of hairs near the fore margin of the first segment of maxillary palp (Fig. 11). Non-overlaping range has <i>E. antalyensis</i> (0–6). Range overlaps with <i>E. galileae</i> (7–19) and <i>E. lateralis</i> (7–21). 2. N_PLH – 0, 0–0, 0</p> <p> Long hairs on the hind margin of the first segment of maxillary palp missing. Such long hairs present only in <i>E. affinis.</i></p> <p>3. N_OUT – 0, 0–0, 0</p> <p> Bristles on the outer margin of galea-lacinia are always missing. This characteristic is shared with <i>E. galileae</i> and <i>E. malickyi</i>. In other representatives of the genus bristles are present at least in some specimens (<i>E. affinis</i> 0–1; <i>E. lateralis</i> 0–10). In <i>E. antalyensis</i>, the number of bristles is particularly high (mean 6.5–24). 4. N_CBS – 14.23, 12–16, 1.10</p> <p> The number of comb-shaped bristles on the fore margin of galea-lacinia is low. <i>E. antalyensis</i> and <i>E. lateralis</i> have a slightly higher number of bristles (means 15.93 and 17.30, respectively). <i>E. galileae</i> is a non-overlapping species (19–21.5).</p> <p>5. N_TCB – 7.42, 7–8, 0.20</p> <p> The number of pointed teeth on the 5th comb-shaped bristle is low. <i>E. galileae</i> has a non-overlapping range (13–16). <i>E. antalyensis</i> has an overlapping range, but a generally higher number of teeth (10.34). <i>E. lateralis</i> has an overlapping range (7–13).</p> <p>6. N_CLW – 2, 2–2, 0</p> <p> The species always posses 2 teeth on the tarsal claws (Figs. 29, 30). This characteristic is shared by numerous <i>Electrogena</i> species, only <i>E. antalyensis</i> posses more teeth (4–9 in two rows). Some specimens of <i>E. galileae</i> have up to 4 teeth (2–4). Invariably one tooth is present in <i>E. lateralis</i> and <i>E. squamata</i>. 7. N_BVF – 30.08, 25–34, 8.076</p> <p> The number of bristles on the ventral side of femora near the hind margin is high. Other species with a high number of bristles is <i>E. galileae</i> (22.45). The maximum number of bristles shared by other species is 3. Bristles are short and pointed apically, which is a characteristic shared by all other species except for <i>E. galileae</i> with the bristles rounded apically.</p> <p>8. N_HFF – 0, 0–0, 0</p> <p> The number of long hairs (at least twice as long as neighboring bristles) on the fore margin of femora. <i>Electrogena galileae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> has three very long hairs near the base of femora. <i>E. affinis</i> has 8–58 such hairs along the femoral margin.</p> <p> Four more meristic characteristics were measured for <i>Electrogena gibedede</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> The characteristics proved to be useful for the taxonomy of the related <i>E. venosus</i> species-group (Haybach 1999) and are proposed here for the genus <i>Electrogena</i> for the first time.</p> <p>9. N_PLS – 33.077, 25–41, 14.80</p> <p>The number of bristles on the hind margin of the first segment of the maxillary palp. 10. N_PLBas – 7.63, 6–11, 4.59</p> <p>The number of hairs at the base of the maxillary palp.</p> <p>11. N_VEN – 13.88, 10–19, 10.01</p> <p>The number of hairs on the ventral surface of galea-lacinia.</p> <p>12. N_LPH – 20.05, 17–24, 5.66</p> <p>The number of bristles on the hind margin of the first segment of the labial palp. Several of these bristles form a separate group at the distal part of the hind margin, near the articulation of the second segment. This group contains 2–7 bristles.</p> <p> <i>Qualitative characteristics</i>:</p> <p> 13. S_HLB – The tips of hypopharyngeal superlinguae are covered with hairs shorter than those on the fore margin of superlinguae (Fig. 8). Most of the hairs on the tips are no longer than 1/3 of the length of the fore hairs. However, several individual hairs approximately as long as 1/2 of the fore hairs may occur. This arrangement is unique and different from the species with very short hairs of the same length on the tips, in those cases not exceeding 1/4 of the fore hair length (<i>E. lateralis</i>, <i>E. galileae</i>), or from all other species with hairs of the same length as fore hairs situated on the superlingual tips.</p> <p> 14. S_GLO – The shape of glossae quadrangular, <i>Ecdyonurus</i> -like, in contrast to the subtriangular shape of glossae in <i>E. antalyensis</i> (Fig. 10). This characteristic is shared with all other <i>Electrogena</i> species.</p> <p> 15. S_PGL – The paraglossae are widely rounded laterally. In another Caucasian species <i>E. pseudaffinis</i> the lateral parts of paraglossae are almost straight, whereas in <i>E. galileae</i> they are somewhat pointed.</p> <p> 16. S_PNT – The hind corners of the pronotum are smoothly rounded, in contrast to the abrupt step present in related Caucasian species, especially in <i>E. squamata</i> or some specimens of <i>E. antalyensis</i>.</p> <p> 17. S_BFE – The bristles on the upper surface of forefemora are spatulate, extended towards the apex and rounded apically. This is a rare arrangement among the genus, shared only with <i>E. galileae</i>. Most <i>Electrogena</i> species posses long and pointed or bluntly pointed bristles of forefemora. Such an arrangement is typical for all other Caucasian species.</p> <p> 18. S_BFF – The bristles arranged in a row on the hind margin of femora are long, their length is approximately equal to 1/2 of the maximal femur width in all leg pairs. This characteristic state can be observed in almost all other <i>Electrogena</i> species. A different arrangement with very short bristles may be found in