Sclerocoelus espeletia 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 espeletia

description: Sclerocoelus espeletia sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 47BEB1B3-36E7-470F-A3C0-5D77BD86449C
Figs 6G, 53–54
Etymology
This name reflects the collection habitat of the holotype specimen of this species, under Espeletia debris.
Material examined
Holotype
VENEZUELA • ♂; Mérida, Mucuchies, 5 km S of trail to Paramo; 4000 m a.s.l.; 28 Apr. 1988; S.A. Marshall leg.; under Espeletia debris near lake; DEBU.
Paratypes
VENEZUELA – Merida • 1 ♂; same data as for holotype; 3000 m a.s.l.; 29 Apr. 1988; moss; DEBU • 2 ♂♂; La Culata, Paramo; 3000 m a.s.l.; 25 Apr.–2 May 1988; S.A. Marshall leg.; flight-intercept trap near stream; DEBU.
Description
BODY (Fig. 53A). Length 3.1 mm. Head brown, lower fifth of frons orange; face, gena, and antennae orange-brown. Frontal width 2.3–2.4× frontal height. Three pairs of strong interfrontal bristles, sometimes surmounting a very fine fourth pair; anterior orbital 0.5–0.6× length of posterior. Palpus yellow. Eye large, greatest height about 3.5 × shortest genal height. Thorax brown, scutum with paler lateral edges. Two pairs of dorsocentral bristles (anterior pair distinct, 0.5× length of posterior pair) separated by 6–7 rows of acrostichal setulae. Membrane around prosternum with dark, semi-sclerotized, non-setulose patch. Legs pale brown, mid and hind femora darker. Fore femur with three large ventral preapical setae. Ventral surface of male mid tibia with two rows of stout setae in apical half. Wing (Fig. 6G) moderately infuscate. CS2 0.7–0.8 × CS3. Halter brown with paler stem.
MALE ABDOMEN (Figs 53B–C, 54). Dark brown, posterior edges of tergites sometimes slightly desclerotized. T2–5 and S2–4 uniformly long-setose with large posterolateral setae. S5 rectangular, 1.0 × length of S4, densely long-setose in posterior two-thirds with a darkened, concave medial patch coming to a rounded posteromedial lobe. Anterior flange of S6+7 triangular, 0.6 × as long as wide. Sclerite A pale, elongate, and setulose; sclerites B and C absent; sclerites D and E fused, dark, slightly sinuate and tapered on left side; sclerite F large, dark with an elongate apicoventral process on left side; sclerite G large, bulbous; ring sclerite well developed and fused to posterior surface of sclerite G. Epandrium large, 0.5 × length of S8, height 1.5 × maximum length and 1.0 × maximum width, densely long-setose; perianal pads weakly developed. Pseudocercus almost entirely membranous, with 3–4 setae; halves of subepandrial sclerite simple, strongly arched, and fused medially. Subcercus large, blade-like, curved laterally, with an elongate anterobasal lobe articulating with halves of subepandrial sclerite. Hypandrium with thin, dorsoventrally flattened anteromedial apodeme. Surstylus elongate, with a deep apical emargination (resulting anterior lobe short and stout, posterior lobe longer and curved inwards) and a blade-like, inner anterobasal lobe. Postgonite short and simple, gently tapered and curved forwards. Phallapodeme large and dorsoventrally flattened; basiphallus stout and connected to distiphallus by a neck-like distal part with a beak-like epiphallus; distiphallus small, largely membranous and supported by a Y-shaped dorsal sclerite with a sinuate medial part and recurved dorsolateral arms, and a smaller, curved ventral sclerite.
FEMALE ABDOMEN. Female unknown.
Distribution
Neotropical: Venezuela.
Remarks
Sclerocoelus espeletia sp. nov. is superficially similar to S. lazulita sp. nov., from which it can be readily separated by the relatively simple setation of the male S5, curved subcercus, apically bifurcate surstylus, and evenly tapered postgonite. Like most basal lineages of the genus, S. espeletia is a high Andean species but it seems to be the sister taxon to the derived lineage made up of the S. galapagensis and S. sordipes groups, which are typically associated with lower elevation forests. As in those groups, the pseudocercus of S. espeletia has become differentiated from the epandrium but, in contrast to those groups, the subcercus remains simple and undifferentiated.
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 56-57, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.979.2803, http://zenodo.org/record/14980852