Unravelling the diversity of the genus Afronurus Lestage, 1924 (Ephemeroptera, Heptageniidae) in Thailand

Anuntaya Wongyam; Michel Sartori; Boonsatien Boonsoong

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1176.105159

Unravelling the diversity of the genus Afronurus Lestage, 1924 (Ephemeroptera, Heptageniidae) in Thailand

Zookeys. 2023 Aug 22:1176:55-78. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1176.105159. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Anuntaya Wongyam¹, Michel Sartori^{2

3}, Boonsatien Boonsoong^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Animal Systematics and Ecology Speciality Research Unit (ASESRU), Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand Kasetsart University Bangkok Thailand.
² State Museum of Natural Sciences, Department of Zoology, Palais de Rumine, Place de la Riponne 6, CH-1005 Lausanne, Switzerland State Museum of Natural Sciences, Department of Zoology Lausanne Switzerland.
³ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland.
⁴ Biodiversity Center Kasetsart University (BDCKU), Bangkok 10900, Thailand Biodiversity Center Kasetsart University (BDCKU) Bangkok Thailand.

Abstract

The genus Afronurus in Thailand is investigated using an integrative approach (morphology based, ootaxonomy and molecular data) for species delimitation. A total of four species of Afronurus was identified; A.cervina (Braasch & Soldán, 1984), A.gilliesiana (Braasch, 1990), A.rainulfiana (Braasch, 1990), and A.rubromaculata (You et al., 1981). The subimago of A.gilliesiana is described for the first time based on reared specimens. The egg structure of all four species is also described for the first time. Morphological and molecular data strongly support their species delimitation. The egg chorionic structure of the genus Afronurus, together with other morphological characters, is useful for species identification. A key to mature nymphs of the known species is provided.

Keywords: COI; mayfly; systematics.

Anuntaya Wongyam, Michel Sartori, Boonsatien Boonsoong.