Lindenia inkiti (Bartenev, 1929) a synonym of L. tetraphylla (Vander Linden, 1825) (Anisoptera: Gomphidae)

In 1929, A.N. BARTENEV ( Zool. Anz. 85: 54- -68) described L. inkiti based on 5 males collected at Lake Inkit, Georgia. The species was never found again, although searches were conducted at the type-locality (H. BEUTLER, 1989, Notul. odonatol. 2: 137-139; K.A. KETENCHIEV & A.Yu. HARITONOV, 1999, Strekozy Sredizemnomor’ya, El’-Fa, Nal’chik). The type-material is lost and the original description is brief, making it hard to establish whether or not L. inkiti is a valid species. The only other species of the genus has a large range and is a well-known wanderer, therefore it is remarkable that its relative should have such a small area of distribution. The above made L. inkiti a problematical taxon; sometimes neglected, sometimes regarded as a synonym and sometimes considered to be a valid species. The description of inkiti basically presents a description of the colour pattern and a description with figure of the inferior appendages. The colour pattern is described as black, followed by a list of eleven exceptions (e.g. labium, humeral stripes), which are white-yellowish. It is clear that inkiti has a far more extensive black pattern than the average L. tetraphylla. What is not commonly known and was probably unknown to Bartenev is, that the pale parts of L. tetraphylla can become increasingly black with age. This, for a gomphid remarkable feature, is shown on illustrations published in K. BERND & D. KUNZ (2001, Libellula 20: 79-85). The description of the colour pattern given by BARTENEV gives no reason to believe that his specimens of L. inkiti could not be extremely dark L. tetraphylla. The only structural character given for L. inkiti is the placement of the inferior appendages. The description says that the distance between the apices of the inferior appendages is as long as the length of the inferior appendages itself while in L. inkiti the distance between apices of the inferior appendages is 1.5-2 times the length of the inferior appendages. Material of L. tetraphylla from Turkey showed that the distance between the apices of the inferior appendages varies between specimens, sometimes falling within the given range of inkiti and sometimes falling in the range of tetraphylla. The same was found in a long series from Central Asia and in specimens from the northern Caucasus (K.A. KETENCHIEV & A.Yu. HARITONOV, 1999, ibidem). In this case, the morphology of the inferior appendages is not a reliable separating feature either. Lindenia inkiti is considered, therefore, conspecific with L. tetraphylla.