Cephalops farallonensis Ramos-Pastrana, Córdoba-Suarez & Wolff, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany
name: Córdoba-Suarez, Eric
name: Wolff, Marta
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Pipunculidae
Cephalops
Cephalops farallonensis

description: Cephalops farallonensis sp. nov.
Figs 2–4
Diagnosis. Male. Trochanters, femora and tibiae yellow, femora with a row of long and fine yellow setae posteroventrally and short and strong setae ventrally, scarcer on the hind leg. Abdomen with tergite 1 gray-brown pruinose, tergites 2–5 shiny. Surstyli slightly shorter than length of epandrium. Both surstyli thickened medially, slightly thinner at base and apex, inner margins slightly straight and outer margins slightly rounded in dorsal view; right surstylus truncate apically, left surstylus slightly acute apically. Apex of phallic guide thin, with tip rounded. Phallus bifid, with ejaculatory ducts distinctly separated, rounded and sclerosed apex, one ejaculatory duct thinner than the other.
Description. MALE (holotype). Body length 3.5 mm. Head (Figs 2A, B). Eyes contiguous for 24 facets. F, EM, V (mm) = 0.4, 0.4, 0.2. Frontal triangle dark brown pruinose, with inconspicuous brown callus. Occiput brown, brown pruinose dorsally and ventrally, gray pruinose laterally. Antennae scape and pedicel brown, scape with two setae dorsally; pedicel with three setae dorsally and three setae ventrally, one shorter than the others; postpedicel lost. Thorax (Figs 2A–C). Postpronotal lobe dark brown pruinose. Scutum dark brown, brown pruinose. Notopleuron concolorous with scutum. Scutellum concolorous with scutum, with few tiny setae scattered and 17 inconspicuous setae along posterior margin. Mesopleuron and mediotergite dark brown, gray-brown pruinose. Wing (Fig. 2D). Length 7.5 mm. LW/MWW = 3.5; LTC/LFC = 1.9. Membrane slightly brown infuscated, anal lobe narrow; vein r-m located slightly before basal third of upper section of cell dm. Halter stem white, except light brown base, knob dark brown dorsally. Legs (Fig. 2A). Fore and mid coxae dark brown, hind coxa light brown; trochanters yellow; femora yellow, with a row of long and fine yellow setae posteroventrally and short and strong setae ventrally, scarcer on hind leg; tibiae yellow, fore tibia with conspicuous apical setae, hind tibia with posterior erect setae medially; tarsomeres 1–3 yellow, 4–5 brown; pulvilli yellow. Abdomen (Figs 2A–B, E). dark brown in ground color with inconspicuous setae, tergite 1 gray-brown pruinose, with six brown and long setae laterally; tergite 2 shiny with a triangle-shaped brown pruinose at base and medially; tergites 3–5 shiny, with proximal margin brown pruinose, tergites and sternites 6 and 7 as in Fig. 2F. Syntergosternite 8 brown, brown pruinose, shorter than tergite 5, with a membranous area apically (Figs. 2E, G). Terminalia (Figs 2F–L). Epandrium and surstyli brown (Fig. 2G). Surstyli (Figs 2G–I) subsymmetrical, slightly shorter than length of epandrium, and with a few scattered setae. Both surstyli thickened medially, slightly thinner at base and apex, inner margins slightly straight and outer margins slightly rounded in dorsal view; right surstylus truncate apically, left surstylus slightly acute apically (Fig. 2G), left surtylus with tip slightly acute in lateral view (Fig. 2H), right surstylus with tip slightly rounded in lateral view (Fig. 2I), both surstyli thickened basally and medially, thinner apically and with tips downward directed when seen in lateral view (Figs 2H, I). Gonopods subsymmetrical, triangle-shaped and tips slightly rounded (Fig. 2J). Apex of phallic guide thin, with tip rounded and without lobes (Fig. 2K). Ejaculatory apodeme needle-shaped, with margins sinuous (Fig. 2L). Phallus bifid, with ejaculatory ducts distinctly separated, rounded and sclerosed apex, one ejaculatory duct thinner than the other (Fig. 2K).
FEMALE (Figs 3A–C). As in male, differing only in the following aspects: Body length 3.2 mm, with more abundant grey pruinosity (Fig. 3A). Eyes dichoptic. Frontal ommatidia larger than adjacent ones. Wing length 4 mm. LW/MWW = 3.3. LTC/LFC = 1.5. Ovipositor OL: 0.44 mm, PL: 0.30 mm, B: 0.22 mm; base of ovipositor brown, gray-brown pruinose, with a slight protuberance on distal part ventrally, piercer yellow, except light brown base and ventrally, apex shiny, straight (Figs 3B, C).
Type material. HOLOTYPE. Male: COLOMBIA, Valle del Cauca, PNN [Parque Nacional Natural] Los Farallones de Cali, Malaise, 9.dic[XII].1998. (1 ♂ CEUA-101581) (photographed). PARATYPES. idem Bolivar, PNN [Parque Nacional Natural] Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, El Ramo, 10º48’N / 73º39’W, 2500 m [eters], 25.nov[XI]–15.dic[XII].2000, J. Cantillo leg “M1047” (1 ♀, IAvH) (photographed). Holotype with left wing mounted on a microslide in Canada balsam and terminalia placed in a microvial with glycerin, both pinned along the specimen.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the type locality, Farallones de Cali, National Natural Park, Colombia.
Geographical distribution. Colombia (Bolivar, Valle del Cauca) (Fig. 4).
Habitat. The specimens were collected at the reserves Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali and Parque Nacional Natural Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The former has four ecosystems (Tropical Rainforest between 200 and 1.200 meters above sea level, Sub-Andean Rainforest between 1.200 and 2.000 meters above sea level, High Andean Rainforest between 2.000 and 3.500 meters above sea level and Paramo with altitudes above 3.500 meters above sea level) (Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia 2005), whereas the latter is mainly characterized by thorny bushes and dry tropical forests typical of the Caribbean region of Colombia (Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia 2020).
Taxonomic notes. Cephalops farallonensis sp. nov. greatly resembles C. lobatus Ramos-Pastrana, Marques & Rafael, 2022. The main morphological characters that differentiate the two species are found in the male genitalia and are well differentiated in the key below. Based on males and due to the shape bifid of phallus, C. farallonensis sp. nov. is also related to C. baldiensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1L), C. brasiliensis [figure 11 in Rafael (1990)] and and C. nitidus [figure 37 in Rafael (1990)]. It differs from C. baldiensis sp. nov. by having trochanters and femora entirely yellow (Fig. 2A) [versus trochanters light brown; fore and mid femora proximal half brown and distal half yellow, fore femur with proximal two thirds brown and distal third yellow in C. baldiensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1A)]; left surstylus with acute apex (Fig. 2A) [versus left surstylus with rounded apex (Fig. 1A)]; gonopods with rounded apex (Fig. 2J) [versus gonopods with acute apex (Fig. 1K)]; ejaculatory ducts of phallus with rounded and sclerosed apex (Fig. 2K) [versus ejaculatory ducts of phallus with truncated and membranous apex (Fig. 1L)]. It differs from C. brasiliensis by having both surstyli slightly thinning at base (Fig. 2G) [versus both surstyli clearly thickened at base in C. brasiliensis, figure 9 in Rafael (1990)]; apex of phallic without lobes (Fig. 2K) [versus apex of phallic with three lobes thin and acute apex, figure 11 in Rafael (1990)]; ejaculatory ducts of phallus with sclerosed and rounded apex (Fig. 2K) [versus ejaculatory ducts of phallus with membranous and acute apex, figure 11 in Rafael (1990)]; both surstyli slightly thinning at base (Fig. 2G) [versus both surstyli clearly thickened at base in C. nitidus, figure 36 in Rafael (1990)]; apex of phallic without lateral setae and lobes laterally on apex (Fig. 2K) [versus apex of phallic guide with lateral setae and two lobes laterally on apex, figure 37 in Rafael (1990)].
description: Published as part of Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany, Córdoba-Suarez, Eric & Wolff, Marta, 2025, Two new species of Cephalops Fallén (Diptera: Pipunculidae) from Colombia, and an updated key to males of the Neotropical species, pp. 383-394 in Zootaxa 5621 (3) on pages 387-389, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5621.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/15262872