Neoperla bareensis Zwick & Zwick 2023, n. sp.

60. Neoperla bareensis n. sp.

(Figs. 340–343)

Type material. Republic of Cameroon, ♀ Holotype: Kamerun, Bare [Baré, 5.019471°N, 9.963293°E], 24.- 28.XI.[19]08, Riggenbach (NEOP227, Z19.02; MfNB, pinned).

Habitus. A large female, WL 18mm. Light ochre, only the intra-ocellar spot and an indistinct streak along the occipital suture are dark.

Male. Unknown.

Female (Fig. 340). S8 soft, without pattern, caudal edge unmodified, without strong setae. Vagina small, with many fine spicules laterally from the SSt which forms a thin coil barely twice as long as the vagina. The extensible and partly bare basal section is short, distally there is a dense pavement of scales.

Egg (Figs. 341–343). Size 350*200µm, egg contour with slight angles near midlength and at base of parabolic operculum. About 25 levogyrous striae between anchor pole and base of operculum. No collar, anchor cavity large, opening constrained by the inward-turned chorion (Fig. 341). Stem of mushroom-shaped anchor inserted in a small central depression (Fig. 341). Costae are smooth, bare (Fig. 342). Two regular rows of micro-punctures in the very narrow sulci diverge a little around micropyles (Fig. 343). Ends of sulci a little wider and punctate, top of operculum with punctate polygonal cells (Fig. 342).

DNA (Figs. 491–492, 497). The female holotype from Cameroon, the only known specimen, was sequenced with the genome-skimming approach, obtaining 10,962bp of the mitochondrial, protein-coding genes. The species is strongly supported (36.9/97/98) as sister to N. lineata n. sp..

Etymology. The name is an adjective derived from the name of the type locality.