Sclerocoelus nebulosus Kuwahara, Marshall & Paiero, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kuwahara, Gregory K.
name: Marshall, Stephen A.
name: Paiero, Steven M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Sphaeroceridae
Sclerocoelus
Sclerocoelus nebulosus

description: Sclerocoelus nebulosus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 4FCD12CD-9769-462C-940A-2F9A1BCAEDCE
Figs 8A, 93–95
Etymology
The species name (from the Latin ‘ nebulosus ’, meaning ‘misty or cloudy’) refers to the cloud forest habitat of this widespread Neotropical species.
Material examined
Holotype
ECUADOR • ♂; Pichincha, 3.5 km SE of Tandayapa; 28 Oct. 1999; S.A. Marshall leg.; in green leaf litter (treefall); QCAZ debu00116667.
Paratypes
COSTA RICA – Cartago • 1 ♂; Highway 2, km 95; 9°36′ N, 83°44′ W; 320 m a.s.l.; 1–7 Jun. 1985; H. Goulet and L. Masner leg.; CNCI • 2 ♂♂; Tapantí National Park; 1550 m a.s.l.; 7–12 Oct. 1999; Marshall and Buck leg.; pans in fallen tree; MNCR. – Heredia • 4 ♂♂; Moravia, near border of Braulio Carrillo National Park; 3–4 Mar. 1996; L. Masner leg.; creek bed, yellow pans; CNCI. – Puntarenas • 1 ♂; Monteverde Biological Reserve; 1500 m a.s.l.; 11–13 Jun. 2000; S.A. Marshall leg.; cloud forest; MNCR • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 14 Jun. 2000; M. Buck leg.; sweeping treefall and trail; DEBU.
ECUADOR – Napo • 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Baeza; 1700 m a.s.l.; 16–19 May 1987; L.D. Coote and B.V. Brown leg.; near small creek, wet montane forest/pasture, Malaise head; QCAZ • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Baeza, west along road; 1500 m a.s.l.; 16–19 May 1987; L.D. Coote and B.V. Brown leg.; montane rainforest/pasture, Malaise trap; DEBU • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; SierrAzul Lodge, 14 km W of Cosanga; 2200 m a.s.l.; 5 Nov. 1999; S.A. Marshall leg.; forest sweep; QCAZ. – Pichincha • 8 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same data as for holotype; QCAZ • 1 ♂; 11.7 km SE of Tandayapa, road to Nono; 28 Oct. 1999; S.A. Marshall leg.; near stream, litter/wood; QCAZ • 1 ♂; 20 km N of Nono, road to Mindo; 1900 m a.s.l.; 24 Oct. 1999; S.A. Marshall leg.; path sweep; DEBU • 3 ♂♂; Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve; 0°01′13″ S, 78°40′30″ W; 2200 m a.s.l.; 9–13 May 2009; S.A. Marshall leg.; debu00335515 / MYCRO1029-22 sequenced for CO1-5’; DEBU • 1 ♂; Bellavista Reserve, ridge trails; 28 Oct. 1999; S.A. Marshall leg.; sweeping/aspirating; DEBU.
VENEZUELA – Mérida • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Jají-La Azulita; 3 May 1988; S.A. Marshall leg.; roadside sweeps; DEBU • 1 ♂; Mérida, Los Chorros; 2100 m a.s.l.; 5 May 1988; S.A. Marshall leg.; sweep at trailhead; DEBU • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; 23 Apr. 1988; decaying vegetation; DEBU • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Santa Rosa; 1500 m a.s.l.; 24–30 Apr. 1988; S.A. Marshall leg.; trail, flight-intercept trap along spring; DEBU. – Trujillo • 1 ♂; 10 km E of Bocono, Laguna de Lucerdo; 1760 m a.s.l.; 3 Mar. 1995,; S.A. Marshall leg.; sweep; DEBU • 2 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀; Bocono, road to Guaramacal; 2570 m a.s.l.; 2 Mar. 1995; S.A. Marshall leg.; creek bed; DEBU • 5 ♂♂; Guaramacal National Park; 2000–3000 m a.s.l.; 26 Aug.–2 Sep. 1992; L. Masner leg.; car net; DEBU.
Description
BODY (Fig. 93A). Length 3.1–3.6 mm. Head dark brown, lower fifth of frons and part of orbital plate orange; face, gena, and antennae slightly orangish. Frontal width 2.2–2.3× frontal height. Three pairs of strong interfrontal bristles surmounting a very fine fourth pair; anterior orbital 0.6–0.7× length of posterior. Palpus brown. Eye large, greatest height about 4.0× shortest genal height. Thorax brown, scutum with orangish lateral edges. Two pairs of dorsocentral bristles (anterior pair distinct, 0.4× length of posterior pair) separated by 7–8 rows of acrostichal setulae. Membrane around prosternum bare. Legs brown, mid and hind femora slightly darker. Fore femur with four large ventral preapical setae. Ventral surface of male mid tibia with two rows of stout setae in apical half. Wing (Fig. 8A) slightly infuscate. CS2 0.7–0.8 × CS3. Halter brown.
MALE ABDOMEN (Figs 93B–C, 94). Dark brown, posterior edges of tergites sometimes slightly desclerotized. T2–5 and S2–4 uniformly long-setose with large posterolateral setae. S5 rectangular, 0.8× length and 1.3 × width of S4, laterally sparsely long-setose with two posteromedial rows of setae above a small, dark central process. Anterior flange of S6+7 small, weakly developed. Sclerite A narrow, densely setose; sclerite B weakly developed, arched; sclerite C fused to S6+7, twisted; sclerite D broad, short, closely associated with posteromedial part of S5; sclerite E subquadrate, partially fused to sclerite F; sclerite F large, elongate, slightly sinuate; sclerite G large, rectangular; ring sclerite well developed. Epandrium small, 0.4× length of S8, height 1.6× maximum length and 0.8 × maximum width, uniformly setose; perianal pads weakly developed. Pseudocercus absent; halves of subepandrial sclerite reduced, simple, straight and fused medially. Subcercus large, longer than surstylus, triangular in posterior view, rectangular in lateral view, apex slightly curved outwards with a small posteroventral tooth. Hypandrium with thin anteromedial apodeme. Surstylus simple, short, long-setose, quadrate with a slight anteroventral notch. Postgonite long, narrow, slightly curved anteriorly, very slightly tapered, apex notched. Phallapodeme long, apex dorsoventrally flattened; basiphallus elongate, slightly constricted about midlength; distiphallus largely membranous with two sinuate lateral sclerites.
FEMALE ABDOMEN (Fig. 95). T7 broad and long, simple; T8 entire but narrowed and desclerotized dorsomedially, appearing as two lateral plates, posterolateral corners expanded posteriorly. Epiproct broad, shield-like, medially desclerotized, and entirely bare. Cercus elongate, small with long apical and dorsal setae. S7 large, slightly pointed posteromedially with four large posterior setae; S8 large, weakly sclerotized, undivided. Three spermathecae, bulb stout, slightly ovoid, finely striate with deep invaginations on either end (basal invagination 1.5 × apical invagination).
Distribution
Neotropical: Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela.
Remarks
Sclerocoelus nebulosus sp. nov. is externally very similar to S. lazulita sp. nov. and S. paranebulosus sp. nov., which are also unplaced lineages lacking the derived characters of the named species groups.It can be separated from S. lazulita by the three large interfrontal bristles (only two interfrontals in S. lazulita), and from S. paranebulosus by the narrow postgonite. Females of S. nebulosus and S. paranebulosus are apparently indistinguishable on the basis of morphology. The holotype of S. nebulosus was collected in typical Sclerocoelus habitat (green leaf litter in mid to high elevation cloud forest) along with six species of the S. caribensis group (S. andensis, S. binus sp. nov., S. caribensis, S. copiosus sp. nov., S. elephas sp. nov., and S. tantus sp. nov.) and one other species (S. xynos sp. nov.).
description: Published as part of Kuwahara, Gregory K., Marshall, Stephen A. & Paiero, Steven M., 2025, A revision of the genus Sclerocoelus Marshall (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae), pp. 1-277 in European Journal of Taxonomy 979 on pages 80-82, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.979.2803, http://zenodo.org/record/14980852