Mayorga, Alfredo and Rafael Barba-Álvarez. 2016. Complementary description of Anacroneuria izapa (Plecoptera: 
Perlidae) from Mexico.   Illiesia, 12(07):31-34. Available online: http://illiesia.speciesfile.org/papers/Illiesia12-07.pdf 
 
http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DACDF2CC-8BEC-4CA1-9A10-CDC5108F274B 
Illiesia – http://illiesia.speciesfile.org      Volume 12 – Number 7 – Page 31 
 
 
COMPLEMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF ANACRONEURIA IZAPA 
(PLECOPTERA: PERLIDAE) FROM MEXICO 
 
Alfredo Mayorga1 and Rafael Barba-Álvarez1 
 
1 Instituto de Biologia (IBUNAM), Depto. de Zoologia, Colección Nacional de Insectos (CNIN), UNAM, 
04510 Mexico City, Mexico  
1 E-mail: amayorga.entomology@gmail.com 
 
 
 
 
ABSTRACT 
The description of the male of Anacroneuria izapa Stark & Kondratieff 2004 is complemented and the 
female and egg are described from specimens collected in the Lacandona jungle, Chiapas, Mexico. 
 
Keywords: Stoneflies, female description, egg, Chiapas, Lacandona jungle, Reserva de la Biosfera Montes 
Azules 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
Chiapas is one of the Mexican states with high 
biodiversity. 1,408 species of insects are recorded 
for this state (Aguilar-Sierra 2011), nonetheless, this 
number may increase 70% (SEMARNAP 2000). The 
Lacondona jungle located in the east of Chiapas 
near the border with Guatemala, is an important 
and protected area called “Reserva de la Biosfera 
Montes Azules”. This region has an altitude of 
3,000 ft a.s.l., warm humid (Am) climate with 
annual average temperature of 25.7°C, and rainfall, 
averaging 2,119 mm, distributed throughout the 
year (Kӧppen 1948). 
A minimum of 62 Anacroneuria Klapálek species 
are reported for Mesoamerica from northern 
Mexico to the Colombian border (Stark 1998, Stark 
2014, Fenoglio 2007, Gutiérrez-Fonseca 2015, 
Gutiérrez-Fonseca et al. 2015). Anacroneuria is the 
only genus of Neotropical Plecoptera known in 
Mexico with 30 species recorded, and the most 
biodiverse states in Mexico are Chiapas, Veracruz 
and Oaxaca with 15, 13 and 9 respective species 
(Baumann & Kondratieff 1996, Stark & Kondratieff 
2004). However, there are many unstudied areas in 
Mexico and the fauna may be more diverse than 
current data suggest. 
Anacroneuria izapa Stark & Kondratieff was 
described in 2004 with a male holotype and two 
male paratypes collected in Chiapas in 1935. 
Because the condition of the specimens available to 
Stark and Kondratieff was poor, it was not possible 
to present a detailed description of the adult 
habitus. They stated that the pronotal pattern was 
“obscure” and no female specimens were available 
to them at that time. Consequently, with the 
discovery of fresh material we are able to enhance 
the male description and provide descriptions of 
the female and egg for this species. 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
 
Anacroneuria izapa Stark & Kondratieff 2004 
(Figs. 1-6) 
http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid:Plecoptera.speciesfile.org:
TaxonName:2031 
 
 
 
Mayorga, Alfredo and Rafael Barba-Álvarez. 2016. Complementary description of Anacroneuria izapa (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from 
Mexico.   Illiesia, 12(07):31-34. Available online: http://illiesia.speciesfile.org/papers/Illiesia12-07.pdf 
 
 
Illiesia – http://illiesia.speciesfile.org      Volume 12 – Number 7 – Page 32 
Anacroneuria izapa Stark & Kondratieff 2004:26. 
Holotype ♂ (Illinois Natural History Survey), Jataté 
River, San Quintin, Chiapas, Mexico 
 
Material examined. Allotype female: MEXICO: 
Chiapas, Mpio. Marqués de Comillas, Localidad 
Chajul, Reserva de la Biosfera Montes Azules, 
Estación Chajul, Rio Lacantún, 16°06’ N, 90°56’ W, 
19 March 2013, R. Barba, col. in 80% ethanol 
deposited in the CNIN (Colección Nacional de 
Insectos), Instituto de Biologia, UNAM (IBUNAM), 
Mexico City. Additional specimens: Same 
collecting data, 1♂, 5♀, deposited in CNIN.
 
 
Figs. 1-2. Anacroneuria izapa. 1. Adult habitus. 2a. Male head and pronotum. 2b. Female head and 
pronotum. 
 
 
Adult habitus. Head entirely pale yellow, without 
dark pigment between ocelli; M-line indistinct, 
lappets with an irregular hexagon shape divided 
and pigmented light brown below and dark brown 
above (Figs. 1, 2a, 2b); circum-antennal ridges 
connect lappets to anterior margin of eyes in 
1 
2a 2b 
 
 
Mayorga, Alfredo and Rafael Barba-Álvarez. 2016. Complementary description of Anacroneuria izapa (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from 
Mexico.   Illiesia, 12(07):31-34. Available online: http://illiesia.speciesfile.org/papers/Illiesia12-07.pdf 
 
 
Illiesia – http://illiesia.speciesfile.org      Volume 12 – Number 7 – Page 33 
female (Fig. 2b). Pronotum with pale, moderately 
wide mesal stripe; dark brown pigment of discs 
with scattered small rugose areas. Antennae almost 
as long as the body length (9-13 mm). Wing 
membranes transparent, or with a pale amber tint, 
veins pale brown (Fig. 1). 
Fore leg. Surface hairy, covered with fine setae. 
Trochanter with an asymmetric pale area and a 
pair of small black spots. Femora generally light 
brown but with a black basal and a narrow pale 
distal band. Tibial apex pale, followed by an 
irregular rectangular black area. 
 
Figs. 3-6. Anacroneuria izapa. 3. Aedeagus, ventral. 4. Aedeagus, lateral. 5. Aedeagus, dorsal. 6. Female 
subgenital plate. 
 
 
 
Male. Forewing length 13 mm. Hammer a low 
thimble with apical diameter subequal to height. 
Aedeagal apex with a short, fish scale-shaped 
structure; aedeagus constricted subapically and 
bearing a small pair of elongate-oval membranous 
lobes; outer margins of lobes sclerotized and dark 
(Fig. 3). Hooks slender, typical in appearance; 
space between hooks forming an antique door 
lock-shape (Fig. 3); a longitudinal line located on 
membranous surface between bases of hooks. 
Dorsal: Aedeagal keel well developed (Figs. 4-5), 
forming a sclerotized Y-shaped structure (Fig. 5); 
3 4 5 
6 
 
 
Mayorga, Alfredo and Rafael Barba-Álvarez. 2016. Complementary description of Anacroneuria izapa (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from 
Mexico.   Illiesia, 12(07):31-34. Available online: http://illiesia.speciesfile.org/papers/Illiesia12-07.pdf 
 
 
Illiesia – http://illiesia.speciesfile.org      Volume 12 – Number 7 – Page 34 
arms reach anterolateral margins at subapical 
constriction point; longitudinal line present at 
midlength. 
Female. Forewing length 20-23 mm. Body 
coloration as in the male. Subgenital plate simple, 
bilobed with posterior margins truncate; lateral 
margins of lobes shorter than their width, notch 
small, shallow and V-shaped (Fig. 6). Mesal field of 
sternum 9 with scattered fine setae. 
Egg. Shape oval with collar end much narrower than 
micropylar end. General color dark brown, collar 
button-like. Length ca. 0.45 mm, width ca. 0.21 mm. 
Larva. Unknown. 
Distribution. Mexico, Chiapas, Municipalities: 
Marqués de Comillas, 16°06’ N, 90°56’ W 
(Lacantún River) and Ocosingo, 16°32’ N, 91°29’ W 
(Jataté River). 
Diagnosis. This species shows a close similarity in 
pronotal pigment pattern to Anacroneuria perplexa 
Stark 1998, but A. izapa is lighter in color and larger 
(Figs. 1, 2a, 2b). In addition, the subgenital plate of 
the female A. perplexa shows a deeper V-shaped 
median notch and the posterior margins of the 
lobes are not as straight as in A. izapa. 
Comments. The female of this species was 
associated with the male on the basis of similar 
body color and adult habitus. The absence of dark 
pigment between the ocelli may partially account 
for the difficulty of Stark & Kondratieff (2004) in 
presenting a complete description of the species 
from specimens collected in 1935. The specimens 
used in this study were collected near the type 
locality in Chiapas. Presently, there are no known 
records of this species from outside Chiapas. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The specimens were obtained thanks to the field 
trips supported by the project, “Conservación 
manejo y restauración de los ecosistemas acuáticos 
del rio Lacantún”, sponsored by Natura y 
Ecosistemas Mexicanos A.C, Alianza WWF-
Fundación Carlos Slim, Petróleos Mexicanos and 
Fundación Azteca, A.C. We also thank Dr. Atilano 
Contreras-Ramos and Cristina Mayorga from 
IBUNAM for providing us with laboratory 
equipment and access to the collection. 
 
REFERENCES 
Aguilar-Sierra, V. 2011. Recuento de la diversidad 
de especies de Chiapas registrada en el SNIB. 
Pages 29-34. In Álvarez, F. [editor]. Chiapas: 
estudios sobre su diversidad biológica. 
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 
México City. 
Baumann, R.W. & B.C. Kondratieff. 1996. 
Plecoptera. Pages 169-174. In Llorente-
Bousquets, J., A.N. García-Aldrete, and E. 
González-Soriano [editors]. Biodiversidad, 
taxonomía y geografia de artrópodos de 
México: hacía una síntesis de su conocimiento. 
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 
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Fenoglio, S. 2007. Stoneflies (Plecoptera: Perlidae) 
of Nicaragua. Caribbean Journal of Science, 
43:220-225. 
Gutiérrez-Fonseca, P. 2015. Three new species of 
Anacroneuria Klapálek (Plecoptera: Perlidae) 
from Panama. Zootaxa, 3957:69-76. 
Gutiérrez-Fonseca, P., E.A.M. Alonso-Rodriguez, 
A. Cornejo, A.C. Bailey, J.M. Maes & A. 
Ramírez. 2015. New records of Anacroneuria 
Klapálek, 1909 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) for Central 
America. Zootaxa, 3994:445-448. 
Kӧppen, W. 1948. Climatología. Fondo de Cultura 
Económica. México. 
SEMARNAP. 2000. Programa de Manejo Reserva 
de la Biosfera Montes Azules. Instituto Nacional 
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Stark, B.P. 1998. The Anacroneuria of Costa Rica and 
Panama (Insecta: Plecoptera: Perlidae). 
Proceedings of the Biological Society of 
Washington, 111:551-603. 
Stark, B.P. 2014. Records of Mesoamerican 
Anacroneuria (Plecoptera: Perlidae), with 
descriptions of four new species. Illiesia, 10:6-16. 
Stark, B.P. & B.C. Kondratieff. 2004. Anacroneuria 
from Mexico and upper Mesoamerica 
(Plecoptera: Perlidae). Monographs of the 
Western North American Naturalist, 2:1-64. 
 
Submitted 8 July 2016, Accepted 8 August 2016, Published 26 
August 2016 
Hosted and published at the University of Illinois, Illinois 
Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.