Two new, brachypterous Limnellia species from the Venezuelan Andes (Diptera: Ephydridae) Author Costa, Daniel N. R. Author Savaris, Marcoandre Author Marinoni, Luciane Author Mathis, Wayne N. text Zootaxa 2016 4144 3 301 315 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.4144.3.1 ea093250-c3c4-403c-a05c-98c49d0e0aa5 1175-5326 255192 B73CFE90-BDF1-47EA-BBD6-52A8DB2B144C Genus Limnellia Malloch Limnellia Malloch 1925 : 331 (feminine). Type species: Limnellia maculipennis Malloch 1925 , original designation.─ Andersson 1971 : 53 –59 [review, European species].─ Mathis 1978 : 250 –293 [revision of Nearctic species].─ Mathis 1980 [review, Neotropical fauna].─ Zhang and Yang 2009 : 558 –64 [review, Chinese fauna].─ Krivosheina 2012 : 1 –7 [review, Russian species].─ Mathis et al. 2014 : 563 –564 [review, Brazilian species]. Eustigoptera Cresson 1930 : 126 (feminine). Type species: Notiphila quadrata Fallén 1813 , original designation.─ Cresson 1935 : 362 [synonymy]. Stictoscatella Collin 1930 : 133 (feminine). Type species: Notiphila quadrata Fallén 1813 , original designation.─ Cresson 1935 : 362 [synonymy]. Stranditella Duda 1942 : 30 (as a subgenus of Lamproscatella ; feminine). Type species: Notiphila quadrata Fallén 1813 , original designation.─ Dahl 1959 : 126 [synonymy]. Diagnosis . Limnellia is distinguished from other genera of the tribe Scatellini by the following characters: Small to moderately small shore flies, body length 1.00– 2.50 mm ; mostly dark brown to black, microtomentose to bare, shiny, frequently with cinereous guttate and vittate maculae; wing maculate, generally dark with white spots. Head: Mesofrons distinct from duller parafrons, sometimes subshiny; lateroclinate fronto-orbital seta 1 (rarely 2); inner and outer vertical setae both well developed; paravertical setae either reduced or absent; ocelli arranged in isosceles or equilateral triangle or absent. Arista at most macropubescent. Face with shallow antennal grooves; interfoveal carina not projected or creased dorsally; facial setae mostly small, hair-like. Eye nearly round. Gena relatively short, bearing 1 well-developed seta. Thorax: Acrostichal setae uniform in size, small, arranged in 2 rows that extend to base of scutellum; dorsocentral setae 2 (0+2); supra-alar seta either reduced or lacking; disc of scutellum bare; lateral scutellar setae usually 2, sometimes 1 or lacking. Wing maculate, mostly dark brown with white, generally guttate markings. Abdomen: Tergites black, becoming shiny and polished posteriorly. Male terminalia: Epandrium a closed plate around cercal cavity, bearing articulated surstyli on anterior margin; gonites elongate with broad base, bearing setae on ventral portion; phallapodeme in lateral view nearly straight or deflected medially; dorsal aedeagal opening with a fold along ventral margin; aedeagus without distiphallus; ejaculatory apodeme usually present, small. Discussion . With description of the two new species below, Limnellia now includes 24 species worldwide ( Mathis and Zatwarnicki 1995 and electronic updates ) that occur in most temperate regions or at higher elevations in subtropical and tropical zones. Only two species were known previously from Neotropical Region , L. huachuca Mathis ( Colombia, Jamaica , Mexico , and Porto Rico ) and L. itatiaia Mathis ( Brazil ) ( Mathis 1980 , Mathis et al. 2014 ). Two species in the genus exhibit brachyptery of two different types : L. helmuti Hollmann-Schirrmacher and Zatwarnicki has a short and broad wing, and L. abbreviata , has a narrow wing. Both species are incapable of flight. The two new species described herein are closely related (see “Remarks” sections below) and form a lineage within Limnellia that seems to have arisen and diversified due to evolutionary pressures within the Paramo or during the development of this ecosystem.