Cardiacephala venezuelensis Ferro & Marshall 2018, new species

Cardiacephala venezuelensis new species

(Figs. 99–102)

Description: Body length 8 mm, wing 5 mm. Head and abdomen dark brown. Thorax black. Palpus mostly dark brown, white on outer face. Clypeus brown with pale microsetulae. First flagellomere black with pale microsetulae. Epicephalon black. Fronto-orbital plates and frontal vitta dark brown. Postpronotal lobe and scutellum brown. Row of katepisternal setae brownish. Mid and hind femora yellowish, narrowly white basally. Fore tarsus dark brown with gold/whitish pubescence ventrally at base of tarsomere one. T2–T4 brownish. Oviscape dark brown. Epandrium yellow.

Head: Palpus broadened basally and gradually tapering to apex. Clypeus short, length less than half of width. Two frontal setae. Frontal vitta with a slightly depressed line before the ocellar triangle. Inner vertical seta insertion flat, without tubercle. Vertex rounded and shiny. Paracephalon smooth, without swelling (not extending beyond the vertex). Line of black supracervical setae strong.

Thorax: Mesonotum black with white pruinosity. Posterior notopleural seta insertion slightly protuberant. Scutellum upturned, triangular. Femora with sparse black setulae. Mid and hind tibia flattened, but sulcus on outer face weak. Wing with stigmatal and discal bands, apex clear with a dark and narrow preapical pigmentation. Crossvein r-m with small dark spot. R4+5 and M1+2 ending separately in wing margin. A1+CuA2 as long as CuA2. Female cervical sclerite smooth, without swelling.

Abdomen: Tergites with brown setulae. Female abdomen: Single spermathecal duct uniformly thick, ending in a cylindrical spermatheca. Paired spermathecal duct divided into a narrow basal half and a broader distal half. Paired spermathecal duct stems with a large rounded swelling, bigger than the paired spermathecae (Fig. 100). Paired spermathecae cylindrical and curved, deeply invaginated to the base. Male abdomen: Ejaculatory apodeme bigger than epandrium and with a broad blade, longer than sperm pump (Fig. 102). Phallapodeme extending to anterior limit of hypandrium. Distiphallus long, longer than epandrium, ending in a phallic bulb, subequal in length and width.

Type material: Holotype: VENEZUELA. Aragua, Rancho Grande Biol. Stn. H. Pittier N Pk., trail, 1250 m, 8.III.1995, S. A. Marshall (1 ♂, DEBU 01086341, MIZA, sequence MYCRO 272–16). Paratypes: VENEZUELA. Aragua, Henri Pittier Natl. Park, Road from Ranch Grande to Cumare de La Costa, 800–1100 m, 22.I.1996, J. A. Skevington (1 ♀, DEBU 01086340, sequence MYCRO 271–16); Aragua, Rancho Grande Biol. Stn., H. Pittier N Pk., trail, 1250 m, 8.III.1995, S. A. Marshall (1 ♂, DEBU); Henri Pittier Natl. Pk., Rancho Grande, Malaise/ intercept, 12–30.XII.1987, M. Sanborne (1 ♀, DEBU 00141035).

Distribution: Venezuela.

Comments: Currently known only from Rancho Grande in Venezuela, this species is unusual among Cardiacephala species for its occurrence at relatively high elevations. Other members of this genus are rarely collected above 1000 m.