Empis (Enoplempis) sphaera Sinclair, Brooks & Cumming, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sinclair, Bradley J.
name: Brooks, Scott E.
name: Cumming, Jeffrey M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Empididae
Empis
Empis sphaera

description: Empis (Enoplempis) sphaera sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6CB1A660-01E7-4070-BF2A-122473B6D3B6
(Figs 157–159, 162, 163, 175)
Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, labelled: “CAL: Tulare Co./ Big Fern Spr. [36°32′N 118°46′W]/ 9 mi. NE Ash Mt./ HQ IV-30-79/ J. T. Doyen, coll. [with Phoridae prey on collapsed balloon]”; “ HOLOTYPE / Empis (Enoplempis) / sphaera Sinclair,/ Brooks & Cumming [red label]” (EMEC). PARATYPES: USA. California: Tulare County: Same data as holotype (8♂ with Cecidomyiidae, Chironomidae and Sciaridae prey on balloons, EMEC; 2♂, EMEC); same data as holotype except, 4.v.1979, J. DeBenedictis (1♂ with Phoridae prey on balloon, EMEC); Sequoia NP [36°33′53″N 118°46′22″W], 13.iv.1934, 328-1 (2♂, WSU); S. Fork Camp, 13 mi. SE Three Rivers [36°21′N 118°45′W], 3.v.1979, M.E. Buegler (1♂, EMEC).
Additional material examined. USA: Oregon: Hood River County: E11-58, Mount Hood NF, 45.3735°N, 121.6859°W, 17.vi.2011, S.P. Turner, ex observed with balloons [not attached with pinned specimen] (2♂, 1♀, CNC) [there is doubt concerning the accuracy of the label data as the state is mis-labelled as Washington].
Diagnosis. This species is distinguished from other species of the E. (En.) delumbis species group by the male head holoptic, male hind tibia without preapical row of posterior setae and bearing pale mitten-shaped anteroventral lobe (Figs 157–159).
Description. Wing length 5.4–6.3 mm. Male. Similar to E. (En.) delumbis except as follows: head holoptic, upper ommatidia not enlarged. Antenna brown; postpedicel long, slender and tapered, 6× longer than basal width; stylus 2× longer than basal width of postpedicel. Palpus yellow, with dark setulae.
Thorax dark grey in ground-colour, densely whitish pruinescent. Scutum with faint narrow brownish vittae between acr and dc rows and very faint broader outer vittae; postpronotal lobe and postalar ridge yellowish brown. Pleura as dark as scutum. Postpronotum with 1 long seta and several dark, slender setae. Scutum with short, fine uniserial acr; dc uniserial, long and slender anteriorly, with longer, stronger seta nearly prescutellar depression; 2 posterior npl, with several short anterior npl setulae; 1 presut spal; 1 psut spal; 1 pal. Scutellum with 2 pairs of sctl, outer pair shorter; disc bare.
Legs slender, brown with yellowish ventrum on femora and apical tarsomeres darker; coxae pale brown to yellowish, with some bluish pruinescence (Fig. 157). Fore femur with row of slender posteroventral setae. Fore tibia with 1–2 erect anterodorsal setae on apical half, longer than width of tibia; apex with circlet of preapical setae; anterior face with short appressed setae. Fore tarsomere 1 slender, with fine ventral setae and row of strong anteroventral setae, shorter than width of tarsomere; tarsomeres 2–5 with biserial row of spine-like ventral setae; tarsomeres 1–4 with apicolateral pair of spine-like setae, longer than width of segment. Mid femur with erect, pale ventral setae, basal setae nearly twice width of femur; strong preapical anterior seta present. Mid tibia with 3–4 posteroventral setae; 2–3 erect anterodorsal and posterodorsal setae; posterior face with dense fine setulae and several erect, strong setae; circlet of strong preapical setae. Mid tarsus with long, strong ventral setae on tarsomere 1; tarsomeres 2–5 similar to fore tarsus. Hind femur with erect pale ventral setae, basal setae longer than width of femur; apex with tuft of black anteroventral setae arising directly from femur; tuft of black posteroventral setae arising directly from femur, proximal to anteroventral tuft, with short distal; apex without preapical row of posterior setae; preapical anterior seta slightly longer than width of femur (Figs 158, 159). Hind tibia without subbasal swelling and not bent; anteroventral lobe pale brown, mitten-shaped, clothed in pubescence; posteroventral lobe triangular, with black apical setae, longer than lobe; 7–10 long dorsal setae, less than twice width of femur; ventral surface with long, slender setae, several longer than width of tibia (Figs 157–159). Hind tarsomere 1 inflated with long dorsal setae similar to tibia, otherwise all tarsomeres similar to mid tarsus.
Wing with CuA+CuP weakly sclerotized, often fading out before wing margin; R 5 ending near wing tip. Halter brownish.
Abdomen dark brown, with greyish pruinescence; with long, slender setae on posterior margin of sclerites. Pregenital segments unmodified, except sclerites of segment 8 narrowly separated or partially fused anteriorly. Terminalia (Figs 162, 163): brown with yellowish phallus. Cercus long and narrow, projecting obliquely from epandrium; apex forked with narrow tapered upper lobe (shorter in northern populations); lower apical lobe broader with rounded apex; setae nearly as long as width of cercus. Subepandrial process extending to either side of phallus. Epandrial lamella subtriangular, broad, with rounded, tapered apex, without upturned projection, bearing long setae on apical third, length longer than width of epandrium. Hypandrium well developed, with bulbous posterior face as base of long setae; apex pointed medially; setae longer than width of hypandrium. Phallus (Fig. 163) with basal half broader than apical half, tapered, gently arched, with pair of posterior digitiform processes flanking apical section; apex emerging beyond epandrium; apical portion slender, sinuous with narrow, spiculate tip; ejaculatory apodeme more than half-length of epandrium, Y-shaped, with ventrally positioned lateral apodemes.
Female. Similar to male, except as follows: frons broader, wider than anterior ocellus; hindleg without modified setae and processes; abdominal pleural membrane without darkened, expanded region; tergites 7 and 8 with pruinescence.
Geographical distribution and seasonal occurrence (Fig. 175). Empis (En.) sphaera sp. nov. is known from Tulare County, California and Hood River County, Oregon. Adults were collected in April, May and June.
Etymology. The species name is Latin for sphere, in reference to the balloons used as nuptial gifts in this species.
Nuptial gift presentation. Numerous males included a balloon attached to the pin beneath the specimen (see “ Type material” above). Each balloon is hollow with a small fly (Cecidomyiidae, Chironomidae, Sciaridae and Phoridae) attached to the outside. The balloons are shiny, generally cylindrical in shape, comprising layers of hexagonal shaped cells, usually with a large circular opening at one end.
description: Published as part of Sinclair, Bradley J., Brooks, Scott E. & Cumming, Jeffrey M., 2025, Revision of the western Nearctic species of Empis subgenus Enoplempis (Diptera: Empididae), pp. 1-200 in Zootaxa 5615 (1) on pages 80-81, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5615.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/15217957