Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall, 2014

Luk, Stephen P. L. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2014, A revision of the New World genus Aptilotella Duda (Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae), Zootaxa 3761 (1), pp. 1-156 : 43-44

Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall , sp. n.

Figures 2 and 306–316

Description. Habitus as in Figure 2 . Body length 1.1–1.5 mm. Head ground color yellow-orange. Orbital plate shining, darkened behind antennal insertions, with a somewhat paler spot in ocular emargination; interfrontal plate finely rugose; brown medial stripes each approximately one-fifth the width of frons, diffuse along the anterior margin. Ocellar tubercle raised, shining; ocellar bristle subequal to the length of frons. Orbital bristle absent; orbital setulae small, in four pairs. Interfrontal setae long, in two pairs. Face shining; facial tubercle conical, excavation very shallow, with slightly infuscated margin; gena paler, weakly shining and finely rugose. Antenna black, first flagellomere brown. Occiput black. Scutum and scutellum black, shining. Scutum uniformly, sparsely setose. Scutellum bare; three times wider than long, two-thirds the width of scutum. Apical scutellar bristles 1.4 times as long as basal. Pleuron black. Legs bicoloured; coxa black; trochanter orange; femur black except for orange apex; fore and mid tibiae black, orange basally and apically; hind tibia black except for broad orange band basally and along mid-length; tarsus orange, darkening distally; mid tibia with a single distal anterodorsal bristle. Wing rudiment brown. Abdomen black, shining; tergites uniformly setose, basal margin densely microtrichose except for syntergite; sternites finely microtrichose, with rows of setae posteriorly. Cercus red-orange.

Male terminalia. Sternite 5 ( Fig. 309 ) medially with a field of minute spinules; posteromedial margin giving rise to a somewhat membranous, shallowly concave shelf, covered in rows of bifid or trifid spinules, flanked on each side by a setal cluster. Synsternite 6+7 ( Fig. 308 ) flanked on each side of medial bridge by a curved arm, posteromedially with pouch-like membrane attaching to the marginal shelf of sternite 5. Cercus ( Figs. 306, 307 ) slender, curved, three times as long as basal width; base dilated, margin interiorly deeply excavated; inner basal margin with three long setae in a row and one long seta adjacent to the basal two, this seta two-thirds the length of cercus; apex bearing a stout, recurved seta. Surstylus ( Figs. 306, 307 ) conical; outer face anteriorly expanded into a rounded rectangular plate, about 1.5 times as long as the height of cone, bearing scattered sensory setae, and with a tuberculate posteroventral corner bearing numerous divergent setae. Postgonite ( Fig. 311 ) sinuate; descending arm gradually curving and tapering, with several marginal sensory setae; articulatory process for pregonite triangular and rounded; articulatory process for basiphallus short-stalked and knobbed. Hypandrium ( Fig. 312 ) with medial rod slightly pinched in distal third and apically dilated into a rounded fan; posteromedial fork indistinct but swollen; hypandrial arms irregularly triangular; pregonite minute and ovate. Aedeagus as in Figure 310 . Basiphallus cylindroid; articulatory process for postgonite pointed and anteriorly directed. Ventrobasal sclerite broad. Lateral flanking sclerite fused ventrobasally by a narrow bridge; dorsal margin rolled, straight and nearly parallel, then irregular diverging and ascending in distal third. Ventral flanking sclerites darker; the slender basal article fused along ventral margin of lateral flanking sclerite, preapically giving rise to a slender dorsal arm; the chevron-shaped medial article meeting the basal article interiorly; the rounded distal article with a darkened dorsal margin leading a triangular lobe inward and upward. Curved dorsal sclerite originating from inside distal ventral margin of lateral flanking sclerite and abruptly ascending.

Female terminalia. Epiproct ( Fig. 313 ) very pale, subpentagonal; finely hairy, with four basal setae. Each half of tergite 8 ( Figs. 313–315 ) strongly convex, its outer margin concave; with several setae. Cercus three times as long as wide; with two long apical setae. Hypoproct ( Fig. 315 ) triangular with rounded apex; finely hairy, with two preapical sensory setae. Spermathecae ( Fig. 316 ) finely ridged; sclerotized ducts very long, four to five times the diameter of a spermatheca.

Variation. Some specimens have a slightly reddish tinge in the scutum.

Etymology. The species epithet is a reference to the Ecuadorian city near the páramo habitat where the type series was collected.

Type material. Holotype ♂, QCAZ. ECUADOR: Carchi, Páramo El Ángel , 14.1 km NW El Ángel, 3450 m, 2.xi.1999, mixed Polylepis litter, R.S. Anderson.

Paratypes. ECUADOR: Carchi, same label as holotype (2♂, 2♀, DEBU); Guandera Forest Reserve , 15 km E San Gabriel, 3300 m, 1.xi.1999, mixed riparian forest, leaf litter, R.S. Anderson (♀, DEBU) .

Other material examined. ECUADOR: Carchi, Páramo El Ángel , 18.8 km NW El Ángel, 3300 m, 31.x.1999, mixed Polylepis litter, R.S. Anderson (♀, DEBU) .

Comments. Aptilotella angela and the closely related A. pichinchensis are somewhat rotund in appearance, and have banded legs and straight, narrow brown medial stripes on the frons. The distiphallus, as in other members of Clade 2, has curved dorsal sclerites and tripartite ventral flanking sclerites with a dorsally branched basal article. Aptilotella angela is known from the northernmost slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, and its distribution may possibly extend into Colombia.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall, sp. n., paratype male.

FIGURES 306–309. Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall, sp. n.: 306—male terminalia, posterior; 307—male terminalia, left lateral; 308—male synsternite 6+7; 309—male sternite 5.

FIGURES 310–312. Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall, sp. n.: 310—aedeagus with postgonites removed; 311—left postgonite; 312—hypandrium. Abbreviations: BP = basiphallus, CDS = curved dorsal sclerite, LFS = lateral flanking sclerite, VBA = basal article of ventral flanking sclerite, VBS = ventrobasal sclerite, VMA = medial article of ventral flanking sclerite, VDA = distal article of ventral flanking sclerite.

FIGURES 313–316. Aptilotella angela Luk & Marshall, sp. n.: 313—female terminalia, dorsal; 314—female terminalia, left lateral; 315—female terminalia, ventral; 316—spermathecae. Abbreviations: EP = epiproct, HP = hypoproct, S8 = sternite 8.