Metaplagia leahdennisae Fleming & Wood, 2021

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 leahdennisae Fleming & Wood sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0018627 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Manuel Pereira; individualCount: 1; sex: Male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned ; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAI1274-07| 98-SRNP-8248| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Quebrada Costa Rica ; verbatimElevation: 275; verbatimLatitude: 10.8274; verbatimLongitude: -85.6365; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 10/ Jul /98; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0018631 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Guillermo Pereira; individualCount: 1; sex: Male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned ; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAI1278-07| 98-SRNP-8346| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Quebrada Costa Rica ; verbatimElevation: 275; verbatimLatitude: 10.8274; verbatimLongitude: -85.6365; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 16/ Jul /98; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0018724 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Manuel Pereira; individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAI1371-07| 98-SRNP-8240| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Quebrada Costa Rica ; verbatimElevation: 275; verbatimLatitude: 10.8274; verbatimLongitude: -85.6365; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 6/ May /99; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0018727 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Jessica DiMauro; individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAI1374-07| 98-SRNP-8247| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Quebrada Costa Rica ; verbatimElevation: 275; verbatimLatitude: 10.8274; verbatimLongitude: -85.6365; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 5/ May /99; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0052501 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Guillermo Pereira; individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASHYM1855-13| 13-SRNP-15519| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Pueblo Cuajiniquil ; verbatimElevation: 5; verbatimLatitude: 10.9404; verbatimLongitude: -85.6804; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 6/ Jul /13; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0052509 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Guillermo Pereira; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned ; otherCatalogNumbers: ASHYM1863-13| 13-SRNP-15522| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Pueblo Cuajiniquil ; verbatimElevation: 5; verbatimLatitude: 10.9404; verbatimLongitude: -85.6804; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 4/ Jul /13; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DHJPAR0052512 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Guillermo Pereira; individualCount: 1; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceStatus: Present; preparations: Pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASHYM1866-13| 13-SRNP-15521| BOLD:AAE2876; Taxon : scientificName: Metaplagia leahdennisae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Metaplagia ; specificEpithet: leahdennisae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2021; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica ; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Pueblo Cuajiniquil ; verbatimElevation: 5; verbatimLatitude: 10.9404; verbatimLongitude: -85.6804; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal degrees; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2021; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Sphingidae , Agrius cingulata; verbatimEventDate: 3/ Jul /13; Record Level : language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects ; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Male (Fig. 2), head (Fig. 2 c, d): fronto-orbital plate wide, coloration silver with gold tomentum over uppermost 50%, appearing as pale brassy gold along upper 50% of occipital margin of eye; vitta wide, 1/3 width of fronto-orbital plate; ocellar setae lateraloclinate with a slight proclinate skew; with 3 proclinate orbital setae (middle proclinate orbital seta most often shorter and thinner than the other two) and 1 reclinate orbital seta fronto-orbital plate with short black setulae interspersed amongst frontal setae; fronto-orbital setulae extending below lower margin of the pedicel, well into the angle of parafacial; parafacial wholly silver tomentose; palps either slightly spathulate at tips, apically acutely inwardly curved, sparsely setulose along outer margins, inner margin appearing bare; arista dark brown-black. Thorax (Fig. 2 a, b): black ground color with pale grey to brassy tomentum; 4 postpronotal setae; supra-alar setae 2:3; intra-alar setae 3:3; dorsocentral setae 3:3; acrostichal setae 3:3; katepisternum with 3 setae. Infrasquamal setae present. Scutellum black ground color, with tomentum concolorous with thorax; with five pairs marginal setae; apical scutellar setae 1/2 as long as subapical scutellars, sub-erect, arising above plane of marginal setae; basal scutellar subequal in length to subapical setae; subapical setae convergent, lateral scutellar setae can be convergent or strongly divergent. Legs: black ground color; mid tibia with 2-3 strong anteroventral setae; tarsal claws and pulvilli shorter than last tarsomere. Wings: R1 bare, R4+5 setulose from node to crossvein r-m. Abdomen (Fig. 2 a, b): ground color black; ST1+2 glabrous black, pale silver tomentum, occupying anterior 60% of T3-T5; tomentum not extending to ventral surface of abdomen; median marginal setae present on T3 and complete rows on T4 and T5.

Terminalia (Fig. 3): posterior margin of sternite 5 with a deeply excavated U-shaped median cleft (Fig. 3 d); lateral lobes of sternite apically rounded, with a vestiture of short setae along disc, 3x as long along caudal margin; basal section 1/5 the length of apical lobes. Cerci, in posterior view, medially separated and parallel, not often touching medially, with a few short setae on basal half (Fig. 3 a). In lateral view, bowed and sharply tapered apically (Fig. 3 b). Surstylus well-developed, stout basally in lateral view, like a broadly rounded triangle, appearing hooked or slightly beaked apically (Fig. 3 b, c); in posterior view, basally enlarged and apically straight.

Female (Fig. 4) as in male, except in the following aspects: head (Fig. 4 c, d): frontal vitta 1/2 width of fronto-orbital plate overall brown with a light gold sheen of tomentum; overall head of females 1/5 wider than that of males; setulae interspersed amongst frontal setae more dense than in males; 3-4 rows of parafacial setulae. Legs (Fig. 4 a, b): mid-tibia with 3-4 irregularly-sized strong anteroventral setae.

Diagnosis

Metaplagia leahdennisae sp. n. can be distinguished from all other Metaplagia by the following combination of traits: fronto-orbital plate at least 50% gold, with a silver parafacial and setulae on vein R4+5 not extending beyond crossvein r-m. Metaplagia leahdennisae sp. n. can be separated from Metaplagia occidentalis by the presence of gold on the fronto-orbital plate. Metaplagia leahdennisae sp. n. is clearly distinguished by its COI sequence clustered within the Barcode Identification Number (BIN) BOLD:AAE2876.

Etymology

Metaplagia leahdennisae sp. n. is named in honor of Leah Dennis for her many years of coordinating and administrating a plethora of problems and events in the Academic Office of the Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Distribution

Costa Rica, ACG, Guanacaste Province, 5-275 m elevation.

Ecology

Metaplagia leahdennisae sp. n. has been reared eight times from one species of Lepidoptera in the family Sphingidae : Agrius cingulata (Fabricius, 1775) in dry forest.