Scoterpes stewartpecki, Shear, 2010

Shear, William A., 2010, 2385, Zootaxa 2385, pp. 1-62 : 51-53

Scoterpes stewartpecki , n. sp.

Figs. 77, 78, Map 7

Types: Male holotype and male and female paratypes ( FSCA) from Jess Elliott Cave , 3 mi. E of Hytop, Jackson Co., Alabama, collected 3 September 1965 by S. B. Peck .

Diagnosis: Closest to S. tricorner , but distinct in the proportionally larger lateral angiocoxites and the nearly complete reduction of the median angiocoxites.

Etymology: Named for the collector, Stewart B. Peck, Carleton University, Ottawa, a leading student of the biogeography and evolution of troglobionts and collector of most of the specimens of this species.

Description of male from Jess Elliott Cave, Alabama: Length, 10 mm, width 0.96 mm. Nonsexual characters typical of genus. Gonopods ( Figs. 77, 78) with coxae distinct from sternum; mesal setal group linear, three setae; distal group with 10–13 setae in compact group nearly well separated from mesal group. Mesal angiocoxal branch nearly or obviously absent; lateral branch with complex folding at posterior tip, anterior branch relatively long, with several fine teeth. Colpocoxite of large to moderate size, fimbriate branch brushlike, finely subdivided. Ninth and tenth legs typical.

Description of female from Jess Elliott Cave: Length, 10 mm, width 1.0 mm. Nonsexual characters as in male.

Distribution: See Map 7 for selected records. All records supported by male specimens; all FSCA unless otherwise noted. ALABAMA: Jackson Co. Blowing Cave (Larkin Cave), off Larkin Fork, 5 September 1959, T. C. Barr; (unnamed) Cave, section 36, T25S/R5E, Mud Creek quadrangle, 27 November 1964, R. Brandon (VMNH); Crossing Cave, 1 mi N of Paint Rock, 5–13 August 1967, S. B. Peck; Driftwood Cave, 9 mi N of Scottsboro, 9 November 1965, S. B. Peck; Cagle Cave, 4 mi NNW of Princeton, 20 August 1971, S. B. Peck; Hambrick Cave, 6 June 1970, W. Torode (NCSM); Horseshoe Cave, 2 mi E of Bridgeport, 3 August 1967, S. P. Peck, A. Fiske; Montague Cave, 5 November 1960, M. V. Kroeger; Pigent Russell Cave, Russell Cave National Monument, 17 August 1967, S. B. Peck; Rainbow Cave, 7 mi W of Stevenson, 16 August 1967, S. B. Peck; Russell Cave National Monument, 10 August 1960, W. B. Jones; Sheldon’s Cave, 1 mi N of Scottsboro, 25 January 1967, S. B. Peck; Talley Ditch Cave, 5 mi NNW of Stevenson, 28 July 1957, T. C. Barr; 1 August 1967, S. B. Peck, A. Fiske; Tate Cave 3 mi E of Hytop, 3 September 1965, S. B. Peck; Tumbling Rock Cave, 27 May 1956, T. C. Barr; 14 March 1965, S. B. Peck. TENNESSEE: Franklin Co. Crownover Cave, undated, T. C. Barr; Lost Cove Cave, 13 April 1958, S. Lazell; Round Mountain Cave, 4 mi. NE of Estill (AL), 30 August 1967, S. B. Peck, A. Fiske; Salt River Cave, 27 November 1964, R. Brandon (VMNH).

Notes: Causey labeled this species “lazelli.” Caves in Franklin Co, Tennessee, also support populations of S. ventus , but they are separated from those caves with S. stewartpecki by a drainage divide: the northern part of Franklin Co. is in the Elk River drainage, while the southern part (along the Alabama border), where S. stewartpecki is found, is in the drainage of Crow Creek and the Paint Rock River; both are tributaries of the Tennessee River. Peck (1984), in a study of the Ptomophagus beetle species of the region, has mapped most of the Alabama caves with S. stewartpecki in detail. These maps suggest that the species will eventually be collected in Madison and Marshall counties, Alabama, and in Marion County, Tennessee.