Belvosia canalis Aldrich, 1928

Fleming, AJ, Woodley, Norman, Smith, M. Alex, Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H, 2023, Revision of Belvosia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Tachinidae) and 33 new species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica with a key to known North and Mesoamerican species, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 103667-103667 : 103667

Belvosia canalis Aldrich, 1928

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0016446 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Harry Ramirez; individualID: DHJPAR0016446; individualCount: 1; sex: Male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAP650-07, 06-SRNP-47724, BOLD:AAA6542; occurrenceID: 550A34C4-A02E-5FF7-ADBF-5FD752220CD1; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia canalis; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: canalis; scientificNameAuthorship: Aldrich , 1928; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Cacao ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Sendero Palmas ; verbatimElevation: 675; verbatimLatitude: 10.8964; verbatimLongitude: -85.4737; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 10.8964; decimalLongitude: -85.4737; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Automeris anikmeisterae; verbatimEventDate: 21-Nov-2006; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0019929 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Carolina Cano; individualID: DHJPAR0019929; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTA1212-07, 07-SRNP-1594, BOLD:AAA6542; occurrenceID: 995575AA-252E-5F2A-8899-092F46D1873C; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia canalis; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: canalis; scientificNameAuthorship: Aldrich , 1928; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Alajuela; county: Sector San Cristobal; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Sendero Vivero ; verbatimElevation: 730; verbatimLatitude: 10.8674; verbatimLongitude: -85.3874; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 10.8674; decimalLongitude: -85.3874; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Automeris postalbida; verbatimEventDate: 22-Aug-2007; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: 89-SRNP-141 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Carolina Cano; individualID: 89-SRNP-141; individualCount: 1; sex: Male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: 89-SRNP-141; occurrenceID: 0BF1DEA9-2046-5872-BCDB-143196D27FD5; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia canalis; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: canalis; scientificNameAuthorship: Aldrich , 1928; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Pitilla ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Estacion Pitilla ; verbatimElevation: 675; verbatimLatitude: 10.989310; verbatimLongitude: -85.425810; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 10.98931; decimalLongitude: -85.42581; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Automeris anikmeisteraeDHJ01; verbatimEventDate: Jul-07-1989; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Male (Fig. 19), length: 10-11mm. Head: head slightly wider than thorax; vertex 1/4 head width; gena 1/4 of head height, 1/3 of eye height. Fronto-orbital plate gold with slight greenish tinge, can often appear devoid of tomentum around vertex, with two rows of frontal setae, populated with short black hair-like setulae intermingled with setae, with a few dark colored setulae extending below lowest frontal seta; ocellar setae present weak and lateroclinate, somewhat hair-like adjacent to anterior ocellus; orbital setae absent. Parafacial light yellow in ground color, densely covered in silver tomentum but often with a gold sheen, particularly around facial carina, entire surface reflective and brilliant appearance; almost bare along parafacial outside facial ridge, with only a small number of setulae extending just below lowest frontal setae; facial ridge setose along 3/4 of its length, with few reddish yellow hair-like setulae emerging along outer edge of row; gena covered in reddish yellow setulae. Antenna, pedicel black, concolorous with postpedicel; postpedicel black, 4X as long as pedicel; arista bare gradually tapering to a point at tip. Palps, orange throughout and densely covered in short black setulae; only slightly clubbed, tapering to a slight point apically, devoid of setulae apically. Vibrissa approximately 1 pedicel length from facial margin. Thorax: black ground color, with light gray tomentum throughout; scutellum ground color light brown almost yellow, distinctly lighter than scutum, under microscope glabrous throughout with bronze tomentum only along margins; scutum with five dorsal vittae, one outer pair, one inner pair broken at suture, and one dorsocentrally appearing postsuturally; lateral surface of thorax densely covered in long hair-like setulae, these setulae all black; chaetotaxy: 3 strong setae on postpronotum arranged in a line, acrostichal setae 3:3; dorsocentral setae 3:4; intra-alar setae 3:3; supra-alar setae 2:3; 4-5 katepisternal setae; scutellum, with 4-5 pairs of long marginal setae of subequal length; apical scutellar setae short, weak and erect, inserted above the plane of the marginal setae; 1 complete row of scutellar discal setae just posterior to marginal setae. Wing: strongly infuscate, slightly darkened but not orange at wing base, basicosta black to dark brown with slight accent of orange along caudal edge; both upper and lower calypters also infuscate concolorous with remainder of wing; wing vein R4+5 setose, bearing only 2-3 setulae at base; halteres orange stalk with dark black/brown capitulum. Legs: black overall, lightly covered in shimmering silver tomentum, coxa on midleg and hindleg covered in black setulae; tarsal claws yellow-orange with black tips, with orange pulvilli subequal to length of tarsal claws; anterodorsal row of setae on hind tibia regularly sized almost fringelike, but with 3-4 longer stronger setae at least 2X as long as others. Abdomen: large, flattened globose, with black ground color; tomentum absent from T1+2 and T3, gold tomentum along anterior 40% of surface of T4 becoming more apparent under different angles, bisected medially by an area devoid of tomentum, densely gold tomentose throughout T5 not reaching to hind margin of tergite, black along caudal 10% of tergite, where it is devoid of gold; ventral surfaces of T3-T5 densely hirsute, but no distinct sex-patches present; middorsal depression on ST1+2 reaching to hind margin of tergite; one pair of median marginal setae present on ST1+2 and T3, and complete rows of setae on T4 and T5; T5 devoid of any setulae in the area of gold tomentosity.

Male terminalia (Fig. 20): sternite 5 with a deeply excavated median cleft along posterior edge, smoothly Y-shaped, margins covered in dense tomentum; posterior lobes rounded apically, with multiple setulae surrounded by many shorter weaker setulae. Anterior plate of sternite 5, 1/2X length of posterior lobes; unsclerotized "window" on anterior plate of sternite 5, elongate translucent, strongly arcuate convex. Cerci in posterior view triangular, with a sharp shoulder at apex; apically pointed, fused along 2/3 of length. Cerci in lateral view, straight with a mild hook at tip, densely setose along basal 2/3rds. Surstylus in lateral view, oar shaped and rounded pinched basally; surstylus appearing fused with epandrium; when viewed posteriorly surstyli slightly convergent and thickened, reminiscent of a kukri-type knife. Pregonite broad, well-developed, apically squared off, with 3-5 marginal setulae. Postgonite, narrow 1/3 as wide as pregonite, sharply blunt at apex, subequal in length to pregonite. Distiphallus elongate and barrel shaped, median longitudinal sclerotized reinforcement short, appearing as a small process, anterolateral, sclerotized acrophallus, on anterior surface near apex, ~1.7X as long as basiphallus.

Female (Fig. 21) length: 11-13mm, overall morphology as in male differing in the following traits: Head: fronto-orbital plate dull gray, sometimes appearing devoid of tomentum along vertex, bearing 3-4 pairs of proclinate orbital setae in addition to 1-2 pairs of reclinate orbital seta; profile of head not rounded as in males; vertex 1/3 of head width; palps slightly more clubbed than males Thorax: Thoracic chaetotaxy, and tomentum as in males. Abdomen: more globose than males, lacking the flattened character, setulae on abdomen not as dense appearing far less hirsute than male abdomen; differing in terminalia, and the gold tomentosity on T4 extending over 40-50% of tergal surface.

Diagnosis

Belvosia canalis Aldrich 1928 can be distinguished from all other Belvosia by the following combination of traits: fronto-orbital plate with a pale gold bronze tomentum, basicosta partly black/dark brown, gold tomentum on T4 covering at most 50% of tergite, bisected medially by a dark strip so that two distinct tomentose patches on T4 appear separated from T5, T5 entirely gold with a slight blackening around median pair of marginal setae (gold tomentum resumes so that the underside is gold), abdomen slightly flattened with T5 slightly open vaguely exposing the genital capsule.

Distribution

From Costa Rica south to Brazil; Costa Rica, ACG (Provinces of Alajuela and Guanacaste), 95-1220 m elevation.

Taxon Statement

Interim species-specific name included in previously circulating databases and publications, Belvosia Woodley08.

Ecology

Within the ACG inventory, Belvosia canalis has been reared 152 times from two families of Lepidoptera Saturniidae : Automeris anikmeisterae Brechlin & Meister, 2011 (N=30), A. banus (Boisduval, 1875) (N=30), A. niepelti Draudt, 1929 (N=9), A. postalbida Schaus, 1900 (N=82), and one record Erebidae , Dysschema jansonis (Butler, 1870) (N=1); from cloud forest, dry forest, rain forest and dry-rain lowland intergrade.