Nemoura panda Zhu, Huo & Du, 2025

Nemoura panda Zhu, Huo & Du sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:73DFD88A-1D0C-4B92-B0DF-C6007E08CBCC

Adult habitus: Head dark brown, antennae brown; head slightly wider than pronotum; pronotum subquadrate, angles slightly blunt rounded with darker rugosity; Mottled wings, with light spots, veins brown; Legs light brown, with a subtle small yellow band in the middle of the femora ( Fig. 10 View FIGURE 10 ).

Male: Body length 4.4–5.3 mm, forewing length 6.5–7.2 mm, hindwing length 5.4–6.3 mm (n=10). Tergum 9 weakly sclerotized, with the posterior margin slightly concave medially; the posterior margin and central area are covered with numerous small spines, and there are 2–6 long hairs situated along the midline ( Fig. 11A View FIGURE 11 ). Sternum 9 with claviform vesicle claviform, length approximately 3× width, slightly constricted basally, mostly membranous; hypoproct broad and semielliptical, tapering posteromedially to a slender tip ( Figs. 11B–11C View FIGURE 11 ). Tergum 10 heavily sclerotized posterolaterally, with a longitudinal median concavity below epiproct, bearing several tiny, black spines located along anterolateral margin ( Fig. 11A View FIGURE 11 ). Cerci mostly sclerotized and slender, with a large curved, flattened spine that bears 5 or 6 teeth ( Figs. 12A–12D View FIGURE 12 ). Epiproct elongate, with slender basal cushion; apical sclerite curving upward and regularly curved small ring ( Figs. 13A–13B View FIGURE 13 ); dorsal sclerite weakly sclerotized, with two nearly triangular sclerites along the lateral margin in the middle ( Figs. 13A–13B View FIGURE 13 ); ventral sclerite prominently sclerotized, with a slender basal plate that bears a tuft of long bristles ( Fig. 13C View FIGURE 13 ). Paraprocts divided into twp lobes ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ), inner lobe is a sclerotized strip; the inner side of inner lobe is distinctly sclerotized and connects to the tip of hypoproct ( Figs 14A–14B View FIGURE 14 ) outer side of the base is sclerotized and curved, connected to the weakly sclerotized area of the outer lobe; outer lobe mostly sclerotized, like a mitten-shaped ( Figs 14A–14B View FIGURE 14 ); the inner side is weakly sclerotized and connected to inner lobe, while the outer side sclerotized and have a small sclerotized protrusion, with pronounced sclerotization near cerci ( Figs 14A–14B View FIGURE 14 ).

Female: Body length 4.9–5.7 mm, forewing length 7.5–8.3 mm, hindwing length 6.6–7.4 mm (n=9). Sternum 7 extended medially forming a well-developed pregenital plate with a broad base and a tongue-shaped distal portion, which is strongly sclerotized, overlapping sternum 8 completely and reaching anterior margin of sternum 9 ( Fig. 15A View FIGURE 15 ). Sternum 8 shortened, with a strongly sclerotized subgenital plate located beneath the pregenital plate ( Fig. 15B, 15C View FIGURE 15 ); subgenital plate features a W-shaped posterior margin; vaginal lobes on sternum 8 difficult to distinguish. Sternum 9 extended anteromedially, trapezoidal.

Type material: Holotype: 1 male, China: Hubei Province, Shennongjia Forestry District, Shennong Peak Scenic Area: Wangyoutai , 2612m, 31.460827°N, 110.205469°E, 2024-IV-21, leg. Ya-Fei Zhu & Xiao Yang. GoogleMaps Paratypes: 12 males, 6 females, Wangyoutai , 2612m, 31.460827°N, 110.205469°E, 2024-IV-21, leg. Ya-Fei Zhu & Xiao Yan GoogleMaps ; 1 males, 1 females, Xiaolongtan, 2072m, 31.488501°N, 110.307884°E, 2024-IV-21, leg. Ya-Fei Zhu & Xiao Yang GoogleMaps ; 5 males, 2 females, Changyanwu , 2381m, 31.466208°N, 110.291151°E, 2024-IV-21, leg. Ya-Fei Zhu & Xiao Yang GoogleMaps .

Etymology. The species name is based on the shape of the cerci, resembling a panda's paw ( Wang et al. 2022). Giant pandas were once distributed in Shennongjia ( Li & Denich 2004). Therefore, we named this species Nemoura panda sp. nov.

Distribution: China (Hubei Province).

Remarks. The male of N. panda sp. nov is most similar to N. sichuanensis . However, the new species can be easily separated from N. sichuanensis by the outer lobe of paraprocts that have a small sclerotized protrusion on the outer side of outer lobe ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 ) and cerci with a large curved, flattened spine that bears 5 or 6 teeth ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 ). For N. sichuanensis , the paraproct outer lobe lacks a small sclerotized protrusion ( Fig. 7D View FIGURE 7 ) and cerci have two spines, one sharp spine and one curved spine at the apex ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ). The female of the new species also closely resembles N. sichuanensis . The subgenital plate of N. panda sp. nov features a W-shaped posterior margin ( Figs. 15B–15C View FIGURE 15 ), whereas the subgenital plate of N. sichuanensis , is roughly triangular in shape. ( Fig. 9B View FIGURE 9 ).

In addition, after examining a large number of specimens from Shennongjia, Hubei, we found that N. panda sp. nov has a similar elongated epiproct to N. sichuanensis and is easily misidentified as N. sichuanensis . We also speculate that materials studied in Li et al. (2009) might be N. panda sp. nov.