Poecilimon (Poecilimon) parazonatus Uluar, Chobanov & Çıplak, 2025

3.14 Poecilimon (Poecilimon) parazonatus Uluar, Chobanov & Çıplak sp. nov.

Description.

Holotype, male. Head. Fastigium of vertex equal or slightly wider than half of the scapus. Thorax. The pronotum short, slightly constricted in the middle, median sulcus located after the middle, cylindrical in prozona and distinctly raised in metazona, caudal margin of the disc concave, medial carina occurs as a yellowish line or absent, disk bordered by large light lines divergent in anterior and posterior margins constituting roughly as “) (“ shape; paranotal margin almost straight along prozona and oblique along metazona. Tegmina short, extend beyond the posterior margin of pronotum, stridulatory vein hardly visible under the pronotum; the stridulatory file with 58 teeth. Male terminalia. Cercus cylindrical, gradually tapering toward apex, the curvature is more prominent apically, incurved roughly as L-shaped, with a robust, but slightly tapered apex and 2–3 hardly distinguishable denticles apically. The subgenital plate is as long as wide or slightly wider than long, distal margin is almost truncated.

Song.

Male song is not known.

Female.

Similar to the male in general. Thorax. Pronotum distinguishably raised in metazona, tegmina slightly extended beyond the hind margin of pronotum. Female terminalia. Subgenital plate triangular, ovipositor typical of the group.

Coloration.

General coloration black with a creamish pattern; vertex black or with black dots on a creamish brown background, antennae black with regular white rings as in the group. Disc of pronotum with black patterns or spots on a creamish brown background at the beginning of prozona, black in the middle and reddish brown in metazona; paranota with black spots on a creamish brown background; tegmina with typical black / light (marble or brown) pattern; all legs are black dorsally. Abdominal terga black in front 2 / 3 and light in the remaining part, the black and light bands extend into each other showing a population-specific pattern.

Diagnosis.

The three infraclades in Clade IIB, each of which was consistently suggested as distinct species by all species delimitation tests, show P. variicercis + ( P. parazonatus sp. nov. + P. zonatus ) relationships on the phylogenetic tree. However, they are very similar in the traditionally used structures / characters (Fig. 12 View Figure 12 ). The distinct cercus, with almost blunt apex and indistinguishable denticles located at the tip, is the most prominent character distinguishing P. parazonatus sp. nov. from the other two related species. The black coloration of abdominal terga is more distinct in P. parazonatus sp. nov., but it is not reliable as it may differ in young and elder individuals, or may be locality-specific. Apart from phenotype, there are unambiguous mutations specific to the ancestral node of this species, which we considered as diagnostic characters of the species. These positions are (see File S 1); 1961 (A → G), 1259 (T → C), 1331 (A → T), and 1424 (T → C). The first is unique to P. parazonatus sp. nov., and the other three unambiguous mutations are not unique to this clade, but none of them is shared with the two closest relative species, P. variicercis and P. zonatus .

Derivatio nominis.

The name of the new species is constituted by considering the phylogenetic position of P. parazonatus sp. nov. with P. zonatus on the phylogenetic tree as P. variicercis + ( P. parazonatus sp. nov. + P. zonatus ).

Remarks.

The geographic section bordered by the two main branches of Euphrates, namely Murat and Karasu rivers, is an isolated section especially for the species preferring high-altitude habitats ( Uluar et al. 2021). Previously Sevgili et al. (2018) identified samples from some localities belonging to this geographic section (from Tunceli and Erzincan Provinces of Turkey) as P. zonatus . However, none of these was from Pülümür Valley, the type locality of P. parazonatus sp. nov. The reports by Sevgili et al. (2018) from this geographic section possibly refer to the new species, yet they require confirmation by genetic data, as phenotype is not reliable enough for identification (see Discussion section below). Studying songs may provide further diagnostic characteristics.

Material examined.

See population 13 in Table 1 View Table 1 . Type locality: TURKEY, Tunceli, Pülümür, Erzincan-Tunceli road , 39°31.7454’N, 39°53.5074'E, 1697 m, 08. 07. 2009, 1 male (holotype), 2 females (leg. M. Korkmaz) (all in alcohol in MEVBIL) GoogleMaps . For descriptive structures see Figure 12 View Figure 12 . The TP population given under the P. zonatus in Kaya, 2018: p. 87, Fig. 1 View Figure 1 . represents this new taxon.