Two newly recorded genera and species of Owlflies (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae) from China

Abstract Background The records of genus Bubopsis McLachlan, 1898 with species Bubopsis tancrei Weele, 1908 and the genus Nousera Navás, 1923 with species Nousera gibba Navás, 1923 have not been published in China. New information The genus Bubopsis McLachlan, 1898 with species Bubopsis tancrei Weele, 1908 and the genus Nousera Navás, 1923 with species Nousera gibba Navás, 1923 are recorded for the first time from China. We provide detailed descriptions and illlustrations of specimens and the collecting information of the specimens are also provided.


Introduction
proposed the monotypic genus Nousera Navás, 1923 is a junior synonym of Pseudoptynx Van der Weele, 1908. In contrast, Ábrahám and Mészáros (2006) thought that Nousera should be a valid genus name. In the revision on the genus of Nousera, Ábrahám compared the morphological differences between Nousera and Pseudoptynx and described a new species Nousera herczigi from Pakistan. Meanwhile he gave Pseudoptynx a new name Ascapseudoptynx, because Pseudoptynx Van der Weele, 1908 is a junior homonymy of Pseudoptynx Kaup, 1848 in Aves (Oswald and Penny 1991). So the genus Nousera has only two species now, mainly distributed in Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia (Ábrahám andMészáros 2006, Michel 2005). Until now, this genus has not been recorded from China.
Photographs of morphological characteristics were taken with a Canon EOS 500D digital camera connected to an Olympus U-CTR30-2 microscope, using UV-C (Application Suite) applied software by United Vision Ltd. Photographs of habitus were taken by a Canon EOS 60D digital camera. All figures were processed in Adobe Photoshop CS5.
All specimens examined are deposited in the Insect Collections of China Agricultural University (ICCAU), Beijing, China.

Type species
Nousera gibba Navás, 1923 Diagnosis Eyes divided by a transverse furrow almost equally. Antenna not reaching to pterostigma of forewing. The wings narrow, axillary angle of forewing with triangular projection, apical area beyond the vein Sc+R with three rows of cells. Hindwing shorter than forewing, axillary angle with lobe-like projection, apical area beyond the vein Sc+R with two or three rows of cells, CuA area narrow with 1 or 2 rows of cells, CuA2 short and indistinct, CuP reaching to the posterior margin of hindwing, not intersecting with CuA2. Male abdomen longer than hindwing, female abdomen shorter than hindwing. The anterior part of 2 tergite of male abdomen elevated. Ectoprocts of male and female not extended. Navás, 1923 Nomenclature Nousera gibba Navás, 1923: 5.

Diagnosis
Wings elongated and narrow, hyaline, axillary angle of forewing with triangular projection, CuA area of hindwing with one row of cells. The anterior part of 2 tergite of male abdomen elevated. Two newly recorded genera and species of Owlflies (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae) ... Fig. 3 Vertex reddish brown with long soft pale yellow and brown hairs. Frons dark-brown with long pale yellow hairs. Gena yellowish-brown, hairless. Clypeus yellowish-brown with sparse pale yellow hairs on the lateral margins. Labrum yellowishbrown with sparse yellow hairs on the ventral margin. Mandible reddish brown, but black distally. Maxillae and labial palpi reddish brown with rather short brown setae. Occiput yellowish-brown. Eyes divided by a transverse furrow almost equally. Antennae as long as 2/3 of the forewing, brown but with the basal 1/3 yellowish-brown; club long pyriform, brown with narrow black rings, and a yellowish-brown spot ventrally, the setae on club rather short and black.

Head
Thorax. Pronotum narrow, yellowish-brown centrally and brown laterally. Mesonotum yellowish-brown, prescutum and scutellum with two black spots, mesoscutum darkbrown with two small yellowish-brown spots. The hairs on whole mesonotum sparse  yellowish-brown. Metanotum dark-brown with long soft dark-brown hairs. The lateral and ventral parts of thorax yellowish-brown with pale hairs.
Wings. Membrane hyaline and with brown veins. Pterostigma black-brown with 4 cross-veins. Forewing: Basal part narrow, axillary angle with triangular projection; apical area beyond the vein Sc+R with 3 rows of cells; CuA area with 4 rows of cells. Hindwing: Basal part narrow, anal area with lobe-like projection and the edge of projection with long soft hairs; apical area beyond the vein Sc+R with 3 rows of cells, but only 1-3 cells in the middle row; CuA area rather narrow with only 1 row of cells.
Legs. Coxa and trochanter reddish brown with soft white hairs. Femur reddish brown, dark-brown distally with long pale yellow hairs. Tibia dark-brown with reddish brown stripe longitudinally outside, setae on it long and black， two spurs reddish brown, as long as claws. Tarsal segments 1-4 dark-brown, segment 5 dark-brown, but reddish brown distally, tarsal setae dark-brown. Claws rather long, black, reddish brown distally.
Abdomen. Longer than hindwings. The first tergite hollowed, brown with two long yellowish-brown spots on both sides, hairs on it long soft. The anterior part of 2 tergite elevated Fig. 4, brown but the anterior margin reddish brown with black setae. 3-8 tergites ochre-brown with short black setae laterally. Sternites 1-4 yellowish-brown each with a dark-brown, cross-shaped mark. Sternites 6-8 pale yellow with short white hairs. nd

Diagnosis
Eyes divided by a transverse furrow almost equally. Antennae almost as long as 2/3 of forewing. Wings elongated and narrow with rounded apex, the anterior margin and outer margin of forewing almost parallel, axillary angle obtuse, slightly prominent. Hindwing shorter than forewing. Abdomen in both sexes shorter than hindwing. Ectoprocts of male about as long as 6-9 abdominal segments together with a short, rod-shaped branch downward.

Diagnosis
Wings hyaline, veins of C, M, CuP yellow. Abdomen yellow with black markings. Ectoprocts of male elongate slightly bent with a rod-shaped branch downward.   Bubopsis tancrei Weele, 1908, Female Habitus.
Head. Vertex brown with long dense soft brown and white hairs. Frons brown and gena yellow both with long dense soft pale yellow hairs. Clypeus and labrum yellow with short sparse pale yellow hairs, and on the ventral margin of labrum with a row of sparse yellow hairs. Mandible yellow but black distally. Maxillae and labial palpi yellow with short black hairs. Eyes divided by a transverse furrow. Antennae dark-brown, yellow basally. Club pyriform, dark-brown but with the basal 1/3 yellow.
Thorax. Black with long pale yellow hairs, the anterior and posterior margins of pronotum yellow, prescutum, scutum, scutellum of mesonotum and metascutellum black with two big yellow spots. The lateral part of thorax dark-brown with long dense white hairs.
Wings. Membrane hyaline. Forewing: Yellow basally, veins of C, M and 1/3 of the base of CuP and the inner margin to projection of anal area yellow, the rest of veins brown with rather short setae; axillary angle obtuse; pterostigma yellow with 3-4 cross veins; apical area beyond the vein Sc+R with 2-3 rows of cells, CuA area with 4-5 rows of cells. Hindwing: Shorter than forewing, the veins of C, M yellow, the CuP almost entirely yellow; pterostigma yellow with 3-4 cross veins, apical area beyond the vein Sc +R with 2-3 rows of cells, CuA area with 4-5 rows of cells.
Legs. Femur and tibia yellow but with the inner surface dark brown; the tarsi orange but the inner and distal portions dark brown. The claws and spurs red-brown. Hairs on femur long white. Inner surface of tibia with long black setae, but the outside with short black setae. Each segment of tarsi with short black spines distally.
Abdomen. Shorter than hindwing. Tergites black centrally, yellow-brown laterally, each tergite with two pairs of black transverse lines oriented from the center to the lateral margin. Sternites black centrally but yellow-brown laterally. The basis of abdomen with long dense white hairs, the rest with short black setae.
Male genitalia Figs 12, 13 Ectoprocts elongate, almost as long as 6-9 abdominal segments together, with dense, dark-brown setae, and the basal 1/3 with a rod-shaped branch directed downward. Pulvini pale covered with several black gonosetae. Gonarcus connected with a pair of strongly sclerous parameres, the apex of parameres with two little teeth. Pelta absent.