Metaplagia Coquillett, 1895

Fleming, AJ, Wood, D. Monty, Smith, M. Alex, Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel, 2021, Revison of Metaplagia Coquillett (Diptera: Tachinidae) with description of five new species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 68598-68598 : 68598

Metaplagia Coquillett, 1895

Metaplagia Coquillett, 1895: 102 [also 1895: 97]. Type species: Metaplagia occidentalis Coquillett, 1895, by original designation.

Metavoria Townsend, 1915: 101. Type species: Metavoria orientalis Townsend, 1915, by original designation. Synonymy proposed by Wood 1987: 1250, and further clarified in O'Hara and Wood 1998: 755.

Agathomyia Reinhard, 1959: 228 (preocc. by Verrall, 1901). Type species: Agathomyia cordata Reinhard, 1959, by original designation. Synonymy proposed by Wood 1987: 1250, and further clarified in O'Hara and Wood 1998: 763.

Anzamyia Reinhard, 1960: 103. (nomen novum for Agathomyia , 1959 Reinhard).

Metaplagia brevicornis Brooks, 1945: 81. Holotype male (CNC), by original designation. Type locality: Canada, Manitoba, Teulon.

Agathomyia cordata Reinhard, 1959: 229. Holotype female (UCDC) (1 female paratype in CNC), by original designation. Type locality: USA, California, Riverside County, Anza.

Metavoria facialis Reinhard, 1956: 123. Holotype female (CNC). Type locality: USA, Utah, Fruitland.

Metaplagia occidentalis Coquillett, 1895: 103. Holotype male (USNM, Type No. USNMENT01519725), by original designation. Type locality: USA, California, San Diego County.

Metavoria orientalis Townsend, 1915: 101. Holotype female (USNM, Type No. USNMENT01519726), by original designation. Type locality: USA, Virginia, Arlington.

Metaplagia Metaplagia occidentalis Coquillett, 1895

Description

Male, head: frontal vitta wide, 1/3-1/6th width of front-orbital plate; with 2-3 proclinate orbital setae and 1-2 reclinate orbital setae; ocellar setae proclinate slightly divergent; eye bare, not descending beyond the level of the vibrissa; fronto-orbital plate coloration ranging from shining silver to gold; fronto-orbital plate with short black setulae interspersed amongst frontal setae; fronto-orbital setae not extending below lower margin of pedicel, with fronto-orbital setulae sometimes extending below lower margin of pedicel; pedicel orange, with a black-dark brown post pedicel; arista bare and subequal to slightly shorter than postpedicel, distinctly-thickened on basal 1/2-2/3, ranging from dark orange to dark brown-black; lower margin of face almost level with vibrissa, not visible in profile; facial ridge bare, but with setulae along parafacial sometimes so close to facial ridge as to be confused with facial ridge setulae; palps either straight or with a slight club at apex, sparsely setulose. Thorax: tomentosity ranging from pale beige-gray to dark grey or silver over a black ground color; thorax black ground color tomentum of thorax ranging from pale brassy to silver grey; prosternum bare; 3-4 postpronotal setae arranged in a straight line; supra-alar setae 1-2:3; intra-alar setae 2-3:3; dorsocentral setae 3:3-4; acrostichal setae 3:3; katepisternum with 3 setae. Scutellum black ground color, with tomentum ranging from gray to pale brassy; with five pairs marginal setae; apical scutellar setae 1/2-1/3 as long as subapical scutellars, sub-erect, slightly above marginal plane; basal scutellar subequal in length to subapical setae; subapical setae straight, ranging from divergent to convergent. Legs: dark reddish-brown to black ground color; tarsal claws and pulvilli ranging from shorter than to longer than last tarsomere. Wings: slightly longer than abdomen; translucent slightly hyaline; R1 and R4+5 can be setulose, setulae of R4+5 ranging from node to crossvein r-m or beyond. Abdomen: ground color black, pale silver tomentum in varying degrees on T3-T5, ST1+2 typically glabrous; middorsal depression on ST1+2 reaching to hind margin of tergite; median marginal setae present on T3 and complete rows on T4 and T5; median discal setae absent on all tergites; sex patch absent.

Terminalia: posterior margin of sternite 5 with a deeply excavated and wide U-shaped (sometimes sculptured) median cleft; lateral lobes of sternite apically rounded, often with setae along caudal margin; basal section 1/5 the length of apical lobes. Epandrium often with 3-4 long, strong setae along anal edge. Cerci, in posterior view, medially separated, but parallel and often touching so as to appear fused, with a few short setae on basal half. In lateral view, bowed and sharply tapered apically. Surstylus well-developed, stout basally in lateral view, like a stout broadly rounded triangle terminating in a small knob, appearing hooked or slightly beaked apically; in posterior view, basally enlarged and apically straight.

Female as in male, except in the following aspects: head: tomentum of fronto-orbital plate and parafacial can sometimes differ from that of the conspecific male; fronto-orbital plate and parafacial up to 0.5x wider than in males.

Diagnosis

Metaplagia can be distinguished by the following combination of traits: head distinctly conical; males with upper frontal setae reclinate; proclinate orbital setae in both sexes; frontal setae descending below level of pedicel; both sexes with well-developed lateral vertical setae; eye bare; parafacial setulose, but not with strong stout setae, only hair-like setulae; genal dilation very slightly developed; prementum shorter than height of head with an enlarged labellum; prosternum bare; three postsutural supra-alar setae, the anteriormost reduced and much weaker than first postsutural dorsocentral seta; scutellum with four pairs of marginal setae and one pair of erect to semi-erect apical setae; one or two pairs of sub-erect discal setae on scutellum, in line with subapical setae; vein M1 ending separately in wing margin; anepimeral seta short, not extending beyond edge of lower calypter; wing vein R4+5 setulose.

Distribution

From Manitoba, Canada east to Newfoundland and south to Costa Rica.

Ecology

Within the ACG inventory, Metaplagia has only been reared from the Lepidoptera family Sphingidae : Lepidoptera throughout the diverse ecosystems of the research area.

Taxon discussion

Our present revision of Metaplagia increases the range of the genus, taking it from being a Nearctic endemic genus to a complete New World distribution, inclusive of both the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions.

Both Plagiomima Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1891 and Metaplagia are extremely similar genera; however, these can be very easily distinguished by the conformation of their mouthparts ( Wood and Zumbado 2010). After careful examination of the holotype of Metaplagia latifrons Reinhard and based on the generic concepts and diagnostic features of both Metaplagia and Plagiomima , the authors hereby propose that species Metaplagia latifrons Reinhard, 1956 be transferred into the genus Plagiomima , as Plagiomima latifrons (Reinhard) comb. n. We base this taxonomic action on the similarities presented between the slender elongated mouthparts and the slender apically pointed surstyli present in Metaplagia latifrons , both diagnostic features observed in the genus Plagiomima , yet absent from the genus Metaplagia .