Sclerocoelus meridensis, Kuwahara & Marshall & Paiero, 2025

Kuwahara, Gregory K., Marshall, Stephen A. & Paiero, Steven M., 2025, A revision of the genus Sclerocoelus Marshall (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae), European Journal of Taxonomy 979, pp. 1-277 : 79-80

Sclerocoelus meridensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A07F7F1A-CA3A-4B17-81A3-B685A4946DD9

Figs 7J, 90–92

Etymology

This name refers to the type locality of this species.

Material examined

Holotype

VENEZUELA • ♂; Mérida, Merida Teleférico, Loma Redonda ; 4100 m a.s.l.; 22–29 Jun. 1989; S.B. Peck and J. Kukalova-Peck leg.; paramo, Polylepis grove, carrion traps; FMNH debu01041014.

Paratypes

VENEZUELA – Mérida • 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀; same data as for holotype; FMNH .

Description

BODY ( Fig. 90A). Length 2.7–3.4 mm. Head dark brown, lower portion of frons orange; face and gena dark brown, antennae brown; frontal vitta, interfrontal plate and orbital plate slightly paler and subshining. Frontal width 1.6–1.8 × frontal height. Three pairs of strong interfrontal bristles surmounting a smaller fourth pair; anterior orbital 0.4–0.5 × length of posterior. Ocelli reduced. Palpus yellow. Eye large, greatest height about 4.0× shortest genal height. Thorax dark brown, scutum with paler lateral edges. Two pairs of dorsocentral bristles (anterior pair 0.4 × length of posterior pair) separated by 7–8 rows of acrostichal setulae. Membrane around prosternum bare. Legs brown, trochanters and bases of femora paler. Fore femur with three large ventral preapical setae. Dorsal surface of mid tibia with an additional small anterior seta in the distal half. Ventral surface of male mid tibia with two rows of stout setae along apical quarter. Wing ( Fig. 7J) short, extending almost to end of T2; strongly infuscate. M 1 and M 4 slightly converging apically. CS2 0.7 × CS3. Halter reduced to a small brown nub.

MALE ABDOMEN ( Figs 90B–C, 91). S5 very broad, 1.2× length of S4, uniformly setose posterolaterally, two small patches of slightly larger setae on either side of a dark, tear drop-shaped posteromedial lobe, anterior margin with a broad but short anteromedial expansion. Anterior flange of S6+7 small, triangular, 1.0 × as long as wide. Sclerite A indistinct from S6+7; sclerites B and C absent; sclerite D small, triangular, fused to S6; sclerite E (?) elongate, dark, scoop-shaped, extending dorsally into genital pouch (i.e., perpendicular to S5); sclerites F and G fused, sclerite F elongate and rectangular; sclerite G large, bulging; ring sclerite fused to posterior surface of sclerite G. Epandrium large, 0.9× length of S8, height 1.6× maximum length and 0.8× maximum width, uniformly long-setose; anal fissure subtriangular; perianal pads weakly developed. Pseudocercus absent; halves of subepandrial sclerite thin, sinuate, weakly developed. Subcerci fused anteromedially, elongate, triangular with apex curved posteriorly. Hypandrium with dorsoventrally flattened anteromedial apodeme. Surstylus large, 2.3× as long as deep, scoop-shaped, long-setose on inner and outer surfaces, scoop-shaped with a rectangular, densely setose inner anterior lobe. Postgonite elongate, almost parallel-sided, sinuate with tapered apex. Phallapodeme very large, sinuate, apical half dorsoventrally flattened; basiphallus subquadrate, wedge-shaped; distiphallus weakly sclerotized, with an elongate, tubular basal part and a flared, membranous apical part.

FEMALE ABDOMEN ( Fig. 92).T7broad, simple;T8 divided into two large, dark, lateral sclerites, posterolateral corners slightly expanded and rounded. Epiproct large, shield-like with posteromedial point, medially desclerotized, and setulose largely in the desclerotized area. Cercus stout, apically rounded with long apical, dorsal, and basolateral setae. S7 broad, subtriangular, posteromedially broadly desclerotized, posteriorly with 11–12 large posterior setae; S8 entirely membranous. Hypoproct with dense setulae in apical half. Three spermathecae, bulb cylindrical, apical third slightly constricted, finely striate with an apical and basal invagination, both with a small, finger-like, central process.

Distribution

Neotropical: Venezuela.

Remarks

Sclerocoelus meridensis sp. nov., along with the sympatric S. flavus sp. nov., can be distinguished from all other species of Sclerocoelus by the characteristically abbreviated wing ( Fig. 7J) with a non-reduced alula. Sclerocoelus meridensis can be separated from S. flavus by its dark brown head, thorax, and legs, and characters of the male and female terminalia. Sclerocoelus meridensis has the complex genital pouch sclerites that define the genus but has neither the apomorphic asymmetrical spermathecae nor the differentiated subcerci of more derived species.