Sclerocoelus dasysternum, Kuwahara & Marshall & Paiero, 2025

Sclerocoelus dasysternum sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8F711293-B3B8-4325-9CDE-8D85F2B3DFB9

Figs 6C View Fig , 42–44 View Fig View Fig View Fig

Etymology

The species name (from the Greek ‘ dasus ’, meaning ‘hairy, shaggy’) refers to the additional tuft of setulae anterior to the posteromedial patch of setulae found on the male S5.

Material examined

Holotype

COSTA RICA • ♂; Guanacaste, Cacao Field Station ; 1000–1100 m a.s.l.; 12–15 Feb. 1996; S.A. Marshall leg.; carrion traps; MNCR.

Paratypes

COSTA RICA – Alajuela • 1 ♂; Volcán Tenorio, N slope near Bijagua Biological Station ; 700 m a.s.l.; 18 Jun. 2000; S.A. Marshall leg.; MNCR . – Cartago • 1 ♂; La Suiza; P. Schild leg.; USNM . – Guanacaste • 1 ♂; Maritza ; 15–17 Feb. 1996; S.A. Marshall leg.; dung pan; DEBU • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; SW of Faldas, Volcán Cacao ; 1250–1350 m a.s.l.; 12 Feb. 1996; S.A. Marshall leg.; MNCR . – Puntarenas • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; 6 km ENE of Vara Blanca ; 10°11′ N, 84°07′ W; 2000 m a.s.l.; 21 Feb. 2002; transect; DEBU GoogleMaps • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; MNCR GoogleMaps • 2 ♂♂; Monteverde ; 1520 m a.s.l.; 18–25 Jun. 1983; D.H. Lindeman leg.; flight-intercept trap; DEBU • 2 ♂♂; Monteverde; 26 May 1998; S.A. Marshall leg.; sweep near Biological Station ; MNCR . – San José • 1 ♀; Moravia, Zurquí de Moravia ; 10°02′58″ N, 84°00′57″ W; 1600 m a.s.l.; 12–18 Sep. 2012; Proyecto ZADBI leg.; Malaise trap #2; MNCR GoogleMaps • 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; 24 Sep. 2012; creek river 2, pan light trap; MNCR GoogleMaps .

GUATEMALA – Suchitepéquez • 1 ♂; 4 km S of Volcán Atitlán ; 14°32′57″ N, 91°11′26″ W; 1625 m a.s.l.; 15 Jun. 2009; cloud forest, sifted leaf litter; UVGC GoogleMaps .

HONDURAS – Olancho • 1 ♂; La Muralla National Park ; 15°05′49″ N, 86°44′17″ W; 1450 m a.s.l.; 4–7 Jul. 2002; Smith and Ocampo leg.; flight-intercept trap; CNCI GoogleMaps .

PANAMA – Chiriquí • 1 ♂; Hartmann’s Finca ; 1700 m a.s.l.; 28 Jun.–3 Jul. 1981; B. Gill leg.; DEBU .

TOBAGO – Eastern Tobago • 1 ♂; Charlotteville, Man-o-war Bay cottages; 26–31 Jun. 1993; S. and J. Peck leg.; littoral rainforest, UV light; DEBU .

Other material examined

COSTA RICA – Guanacaste • 1 ♂; Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Pailas Dos ; 10°45′39.6″ N, 85°20′06.0″ W; 791 m a.s.l.; 31 May 2018; D. Janzen and W. Hallwachs leg.; moist lowland forest, Malaise trap; BIOUG58387 View Materials -C07/ PLIDC254-20 sequenced for CO1-5’; BIOUG GoogleMaps .

Description

BODY ( Fig. 42A View Fig ). Length 2.4–2.8 mm. Head brown, lower half of frons, face, gena, and antennae yellow. Frontal width 2.2–2.3 × frontal height. Two pairs of strong interfrontal bristles surmounting a fine third pair; anterior orbital 0.4–0.5 × 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, 0.4 × length of posterior pair) separated by 7–8 rows of acrostichal setulae. Membrane around prosternum bare. Legs yellow, hind leg slightly darker. Fore femur with three large ventral preapical setae. Ventral surface of male mid tibia with two rows of stout setae in apical quarter. Wing ( Fig. 6C View Fig ) slightly infuscate. CS2 0.5–0.6 × CS3. Halter pale brown.

MALE ABDOMEN ( Figs 42B–C View Fig , 43 View Fig ). Dark brown, posterior edges of tergites sometimes slightly desclerotized. T2–5 and S2–4 uniformly long-setose with large posterolateral setae. S5 rectangular, 1.2× length of S4, sparsely setose, slightly emarginate anteromedially with a dark, distally tapered, slightly bulging patch of dense setulae flanked by pale setose areas. Anterior flange of S6+7 large, 0.8× as long as wide. Sclerite A small, pale; sclerite B reduced, arched and fused to sclerite A; sclerite C reduced; sclerite D club-shaped, associated with inner posterior margin of S5; sclerite E well sclerotized, elongate, curved and slightly tapered; sclerite F large, subquadrate and laterally concave, left side with an elongate apicoventral process; sclerite G dark with a prominent, ridge-like process connecting to sclerite F; ring sclerite small, dark. Epandrium small, 0.5 × length of S8, height 1.3× maximum length and 0.8× maximum width, uniformly setose; anal fissure elongate; perianal pads weakly developed. Pseudocercus large, pale, bearing three setae and fused to posteroventral corners of epandrium; halves of subepandrial sclerite strongly arched, slightly flattened, and completely separate. Subcercus short but deep, subtriangular in posterior view, ventrally with a narrow, dark process, anterior part narrowed and carinate dorsally. Hypandrium with narrow anteromedial apodeme. Surstylus subquadrate, rounded, laterally setulose, ventrally setose, inner surface with anterodorsal lobe and a dark, bifurcate carina on dorsal half near middle. Postgonite short, broadened posteriorly into a broad triangle with a small, apical digitate process. Phallapodeme large, apex spoon-shaped; basiphallus small, slightly elongate with a flattened, triangular epiphallus; distiphallus reduced, largely membranous with a pair of pale Y-shaped lateral sclerites.

FEMALE ABDOMEN ( Fig. 44 View Fig ). T7 broad, simple; T8 divided into a small, pale, dorsal sclerite and two dark, lateral sclerites, posterolateral corners elongate and pointed. Epiproct broad, ovoid, medially split and entirely setulose. Cercus elongate, pointed with long apical and dorsal setae. S7 large, broad, posteriorly desclerotized with four large posterior setae; S8 well developed, deeply emarginate anteromedially, almost divided. Hypoproct with thick ventromedial setulae. Three spermathecae, bulb stout, bean-shaped, moderately striate with deep invaginations at apex and insertion point of duct (perpendicular to apex), both invaginations with a finger-like, central process.

Distribution

Neotropical: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Tobago.

Remarks

Sclerocoelus dasysternum sp. nov. is superficially very similar to the closely related S. costaricensis sp. nov., but differs by the yellow gena, smaller eye (~3.5 × genal height), shorter second costal sector (0.5–0.6 × length of third), and two dark posteromedial patches of setulae on the male S5. Sclerocoelus dasysternum , a member of the mostly Central American S. dasysternum group, is one of four endemic Costa Rican Sclerocoelus .