Revision of the African Neoperla
Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data
P & A Zwick 2023
Zootaxa 5316: 1-194 DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5316.1.1
Abstract
Adults of the African species of the genus Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) are revised, and 82 valid species are recognised. Of the original 29 named species, 14 valid ones are redescribed from types, nine lectotypes are designated, and nine new synonymies are proposed. Sixty-two new species are named, and several additional new species only known from material insufficient for formal description are listed. There are one unavailable nomen nudum and three doubtful names.
Diagnostic morphological traits of the recognised species are described and illustrated in detail where available of males, females, and eggs. Dichotomous keys to all species are provided. Mitochondrial DNA-data of 71 species-group taxa are available, which permits reliable association of sexes and minimises the risk of synonymies between species known from only one sex. Importantly, this includes DNA sequences from 50 holotypes. The DNA-data will also permit future monitoring with eDNA sequencing and identification of nymphs, which are probably important but so far unidentifiable bioindicators in streams.
The genus Neoperla occurs largely in the northern hemisphere and in Africa, where it is restricted to the Ethiopian region south of the Sahara but unknown from Madagascar. A single specimen not clearly distinct from a widespread mainland species was taken on Comoro Island. All African species are endemic, but one African species group has a few outlying members in Asia. The Asian N. montivaga-group is not known from Africa.
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Current status of Neoperla on iNaturalist
(note: no species identified yet - only generic-level IDs)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?locale=en-GB&place_id=113055&preferred_place_id=113055&taxon_id=176725&view=species
Only 2 families of Stoneflies occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They can easily be distinguished by their cerci:
** Notonemouridae: cerci short and one-segmented
** Perlidae: cerci long and multisegmented.
The Perlid genus Neoperla Needham, 1905 is the only Stonefly genus in most of the Ethiopian region (absent from Madagascar). All African species belong to the nominate subgenus, Neoperla (Neoperla).
Between 1839 and 1936 some 29 species of Neoperla were described from the Ethiopian region. However, the features of wing venation, pigmentation, size of and distance between the two ocelli andexternal genitalia are unsuitable to distinguish species. Hynes (1952, until today) sank them all into Neoperla spio.
This study recognizes 82 African Neoperla species and points to several probable new species.
Neoperla transvaalensis-clade (12 spp, only 1 in s Afr)
*** Neoperla transvaalensis
(T7 with an unpaired caudo-medial process that is flat; T8 not or only weakly sclerotised along midline, no humps or processes).
Lesotho, ZA (EC, KZN, Mp, Limp & Upington), Zim, Nam (as Neoperla kunenensis), (to Ethiopia)
Neoperla africana-group (7 spp - only 1 in s Afr)
*** Neoperla panafricana
(male caudal process of T7 three-dimensional, with anterior half a continuous sclerotised ring in front of a pale transverse pale line or a short weakly sclerotised zone, and a soft caudal half with a triangular sclerite ending in a pyramidal process with
SB near its tip and along a ridge on the underside; T8 is flat to slightly convex, no raised hump or process)
ZA (EC, KZN, Mp, Limp), Zim, Nam. (Angola, to Senegal)
Neoperla spio-complex (N spio is now confined to Ghana, Sierra Leone, 14 spp - only 1 in s Afr)
*** Neoperla burgeoni
(males, a pale line of weak sclerotisation runs across the middle of T7, which caudomedially has a pyramid-shaped process, with SB near tip and along the sclerotised underside. Median sclerite on T8 raised, with a hump or a process)
ZA (EC, KZN, Mp, Lim, Richtersveld), Zimb, Nam
Neoperla excisa-sjostedti-operational complex (20 spp - 2 in s Afr)
(males: no unpaired medio-caudal process of T7, which is concave between a pair of paramedian humps; females: S8 with a projecting hard nail or with a sclerite resembling a fingernail)
*** Neoperla heideae
(T7 flat, a trapezoidal sclerite in the middle with a wide truncate caudal edge opposed to and only narrowly separated
from the wide, transverse top of a high process on T8)
ZA (Lim - Waterberg) (to Cameroon)
*** Neoperla sjostedti sjostedti
(T7 and T8 different, the high process on T8 with narrow top, or hook-like)
ZA (WC, EC, KZN, Gau), Zim (to Kenya) (two other subspecies, not in s Afr)
Neoperla arambourgana-complex (3 spp - 2 in s Afr)
(male sternites unmodified, T7 middle slightly raised caudally, elevated portion slightly concave between low paramedian humps. T8 has a forward-curved process or a strong hook. Males also share an inconspicuous process between the lateral humps on T9)
*** Neoperla dundoana
(contour of T8-process triangular, top more or less pointed)
Zim (to Angola)
*** Neoperla leroiana
(top of T8-process wide, rounded or truncate, even slightly concave under certain angles of view)
ZA (Mp), Zim (to Ethiopia)
Neoperla duodeviginti-assemblage (6 spp - none in s Afr)
Neoperla pilulifera-complex (14 sp - none in s Afr)
Neoperla orthonema-complex (3 spp - none in s Afr)
Neoperla dubia-complex (5 spp - none in s Afr)
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