Itaplectops shellymcsweeneyae Fleming & Wood, 2014

Fleming, AJ, Wood, D. Monty, Smith, M. Alex, Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie, 2015, Nine new species of Itaplectops (Diptera: Tachinidae) reared from caterpillars in Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with a key to Itaplectops species, Biodiversity Data Journal 3, pp. 4596-4596 : 4596

Itaplectops shellymcsweeneyae Fleming & Wood, 2014 sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0016540 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Manuel Rios; individualID: DHJPAR0016540; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAP744-07, 06-SRNP-65647; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsshellymcsweeneyae; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: shellymcsweeneyae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Pitilla ; verbatimLocality: Sendero Laguna; verbatimElevation: 680; verbatimLatitude: 10.989; verbatimLongitude: -85.423; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.989; decimalLongitude: -85.423; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Venadicodiacaneti (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 11-Jan-2007; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0029577 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Jose Cortez; individualID: DHJPAR0029577; individualCount: 1; sex: F; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASHYM998-09, 08-SRNP-57655; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsshellymcsweeneyae; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: shellymcsweeneyae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Mundo Nuevo ; verbatimLocality: Camino Pozo Tres; verbatimElevation: 733; verbatimLatitude: 10.771; verbatimLongitude: -85.374; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.771; decimalLongitude: -85.374; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Venadicodiacaneti (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 11-Oct-2008; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0027821 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Mariano Pereira; individualID: DHJPAR0027821; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASHYE058-08, 08-SRNP-57048; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsshellymcsweeneyae; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: shellymcsweeneyae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Mundo Nuevo ; verbatimLocality: Porton Rivas; verbatimElevation: 570; verbatimLatitude: 10.759; verbatimLongitude: -85.373; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.759; decimalLongitude: -85.373; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Venadicodiacaneti (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 21-Aug-2008; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Male and female

Length: male 5-6mm; female 6mm.

Head (Fig. 10c): proclinate orbital bristles present in both males and females; first flagellomere brilliant pale orange; arista brilliant pale orange at its base and darkening to brown at its tip, with gradual taper; first flagellomere slightly shorter than facial margin by a distance not exceeding the length of the pedicel; ocellar bristles reduced, almost hair-like, no longer than length of pedicel, arising behind anterior ocellus; ocellar triangle bare; frontal vitta not quite 2x as wide as fronto-orbital plate; facial ridge bearing 4 stout, decumbent bristles; fronto-orbital plate and parafacial entirely silver and bare; fronto-orbital plate of male with one row of very fine bristles lateral to frontal bristles, these not extending past upper margin of pedicel; absent in female.

Thorax (Fig. 10a): three postsutural supra-alar bristles, anteriormost greatly reduced to an almost hair-like structure; katepisternum with 2 bristles, anteriormost arising slightly behind suture; apical scutellar bristles short, up to 1/2 length of subapical scutellars; subapical scutellar bristles parallel or convergent (often crossed); scutellum with 1 or 2 pairs of widely separated discal bristles.

Wings (Fig. 10a): smoky yellow.

Legs (Fig. 10b): Appearing light overall, femur at least 1/2 yellow, tibia yellow, and tarsi darkened dueto densely haired surface; dorso-ventral margin of hind tarsi with yellow tufts of bristles apically.

Abdomen (Fig. 10a, b): T1+2 with mid-dorsal depression extending over2/3 of its length, but not reaching tergal margin; median marginal bristles present on T3, T4 and T5 but absent on T1+2. Discal bristles absent. Silver tomentosity present on margins of abdominal segments T3, T4, and T5 but not extending beyond 1/3 of tergal surface.

Male terminalia (Fig. 10d, e): both cerci tightly juxtaposed (neither fused nor diverging) when viewed dorsally; haired up to tapering point, after which they become bare until the tip, which is strongly clubbed; apparently convex when viewed laterally; surstylus 9/10 the length of the cercus, not outwardly convex at its center, hooked downward at its tip; sparsely bristled along its entire length; phallus 1.5x as long as cercus, with a downward bend.

Diagnosis

Itaplectops shellymcsweeneyae can be distinguished by the following combination of traits: proclinate orbital bristles present in male; first flagellomere brilliant pale orange; median marginal bristles present on T3, T4 and T5 but absent on T1+2; discal bristles absent from all tergites; silver tomentosity present on margins of abdominal segments T3, T4, and T5. It can be distinguished from its most similar congeners, Itaplectops antennalis and I. ericpalolai , following couplet 2 in the key to Itaplectops (below).

Etymology

Itaplectops shellymcsweeneyae is named in honor of Shelly McSweeney of Vermont, USA, a crucial supporter of the Palola-McSweeney family, the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund, and therefore ACG.

Distribution

Costa Rica, ACG, Prov. Guanacaste, rain forest.

Ecology

Hosts

Reared from caterpillars of the Limacodidae Venadicodia caneti Corralles & Epstein, 1995.