Leuctra jiuhuashana Du, Yang & Qian, 2025

Leuctra jiuhuashana Du, Yang & Qian , sp. nov.

Figs. 1–5 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 View FIGURE 4 View FIGURE 5

Male. Body length 7.5 mm, forewing length 8 mm, hindwing length 7.6 mm (n=1). Head brown, wider than pronotum; ocelli pale light brown; antennae and palpi light brown. Pronotum brown, trapeziform, all angles rounded. Legs brown. Wings hyaline and veins light brown. ( Figs. 1A–B View FIGURE 1 ).

Terga Ⅰ–VI simple. Tergum VII with a bilobed dorsal process projected posteriorly along nearly the same plane as the abdomen; lobes are triangular with a slightly concave medial region; lobes are distinctly darker apically ( Figs. 2A–C View FIGURE 2 , 3A–B View FIGURE 3 ). Tergum XIII simple, lacking a dorsal process, with a less sclerotized medial region ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 ). Tergum IX with a quadrate, weakly sclerotized plate ( Fig. 2A View FIGURE 2 ). Sternum 9 basally with small subcircular vesicle bearing dense hairs ( Fig. 2C View FIGURE 2 ). Epiproct strong, mushroom-shaped, with a short stalk. Subanal lobes with two pairs needles, basal connective, end of curve. The middle one slightly longer than the sides ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ). Cercus simple ( Figs. 2A, 2C View FIGURE 2 ). Specilla nearly straight, wider at base and gradually tapering to apex ( Fig. 4B View FIGURE 4 ). Styles broadly triangular at base, darkened along anterior and lateral margins; tapering markedly in basal half and curved upward ( Fig. 4B View FIGURE 4 ).

Female and larva. Unknown

Type material. Holotype ♂, China: Anhui Province, Jiuhua Mountains , 30°30'28"N, 117°48'46"E, 2002-V-8, leg. Du Yu-Zhou. GoogleMaps

Etymology. This species is named after Jiuhua Mountain, Anhui Province, the first and only known locality for this species.

Diagnosis. This species is closely related to L. braueri Kempny, 1889 , L. juliettae Vinçon & Graf, 2011 and L. muranyii Vinçon & Graf, 2011 , the three members of the Leuctra braueri subspecies group ( Vinçon et al., 2011). The male differs mainly in the longer styles of the dorsal process of tergum VII and by the shape of sclerotized plate of tergum IX. Tergite IX of L. muranyii have the median membranous field carries a trapezoidal pigmented sclerite with two less pigmented anterior spots. Tergite IX of L. juliettae have two connected dark triangular spots in posteromedian position. Tergite IX of L. braueri have two less pigmented spots medially. In L. jiuhuashana , here are no obvious spots in tergite IX. Additionally, the dorsal process of the new species is significantly longer than that of these three species ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ).

Remarks. More than half of China is positioned in the Palaearctic region. Despite this much land area, only one species of Leuctra had had previously been reported here. The discovery of L. jiuhuashana sp. nov. reinforces the possibility that there are more Leuctra species in China ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ). Some taxa of Plecoptera , widely distributed in the Palaearctic region, are also found near the Oriental region (or transitional zone) ( Huo et al., 2022; Huo & Du, 2023), which provides some material for the exploration of the boundary between Oriental and Palaearctic regions.