The Imaginal Characters of Neoephemera projecta Showing Its Plesiomorphic Position and a New Genus Status in the Family (Ephemeroptera: Neoephemeridae)

The First Two Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Neoephemeridae (Ephemeroptera): Comparative Analysis and Phylogenetic Implication for Furcatergalia

Mayflies of the family Neoephemeridae are widespread in the Holarctic and Oriental regions, and its phylogenetic position is still unstable in the group Furcatergalia (mayflies with fringed gills). In the present study, we determined the complete mitogenomes of two species, namely Potamanthellus edmundsi and Pulchephemera projecta, of this family. The lengths of two mitogenomes were 15,274 bp and 16,031 bp with an A + T content of 73.38% and 73.07%, respectively. Two neoephemerid mitogenomes had a similar gene size, base composition, and codon usage of protein-coding genes (PCGs), and the sequenced gene arrangements were consistent with the putative ancestral insect mitogenomes as understood today. The most variable gene of Furcatergalia mitogenomes was ND2, while the most conserved gene was COI. Meanwhile, the analysis of selection pressures showed that ND6 and ATP8 exhibited a relaxed purifying selection, and COI was under the strongest purifying selection. Phylogenetic trees reconstructed based on two concatenated nucleotide datasets using both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) estimations yielded robust identical topologies. These results corroborated the monophyly of seven studied families and supported the family Leptophlebiidae as being of the basal lineage of Furcatergalia. Additionally, the sister-group relationship of Caenidae and Neoephemeridae was well supported. Methodologically, our present study provides a general reference for future phylogenetic studies of Ephemeroptera at the mitogenome level.

The First Described Nymphs and Detailed Imagoes of the Species Thalerosphyrus cingulatus Navás Revealing a New Mayfly Genus from Eastern China (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae, Ecdyonurinae)

The nymph and detailed imaginal morphology of the Chinese mayfly Thalerosphyrus cingulatus have not been reported since it was named by Navás in 1933. Here based on newly collected nymphal and associated imaginal materials of this species from eastern China, we find both nymphs and adults have several extraordinary characters. In adults, forewings have less crossveins in costal and subcostal sections, others crossveins arranged into five regular rows; tibiae and tarsi of midlegs and hindlegs subequal in length; male compound eyes widely separated and penes simple and fused. The nymphs have greatly extended lateral pronotum, round supracoxal spurs and extended dorsal lamellae of gills, especially those of the gills VII; maxillae have two independent distal dentisetae. These combined characters represent a new generic taxon. Therefore, Regulaneuria Zhou, gen. nov. is established here to include the species Regulaneuria cingulata (Navás, 1933) comb. nov. The forewing venation of the species R. cingulata is unique in the family Heptageniidae but similar to some counterparts of Leptophlebiidae and Baetidae.