Voria erasmocoronadoi Fleming & Wood

Fleming, AJ, Wood, D. Monty, Smith, M. Alex, Dapkey, Tanya, Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel, 2017, A new species of Voria Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, Biodiversity Data Journal 5, pp. 20123-20123 : 20123

Voria erasmocoronadoi Fleming & Wood sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0059183 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Keiner Aragon; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; otherCatalogNumbers: ACGBA5600-16, 16-SRNP-45350, BOLD:AAG93; Taxon: scientificName: Voriaerasmocoronadoi; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Voria; specificEpithet: erasmocoronadoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2017; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Rincon Rain Forest; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Casa Keyner; verbatimElevation: 121; verbatimLatitude: 10.95644; verbatimLongitude: -85.2661; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.95644; decimalLongitude: -85.2661; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2017; Event: samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Noctuidae, Ctenoplusiaoxygramma; verbatimEventDate: 06-Mar-2016; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0006953 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Gloria Sihezar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAV195-06, 06-SRNP-1503, BOLD:AAG93; Taxon: scientificName: Voriaerasmocoronadoi; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Voria; specificEpithet: erasmocoronadoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2017; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Alajuela; county: Sector San Cristobal; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Sendero Carmona; verbatimLatitude: 10.8762; verbatimLongitude: -85.3863; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.8762; decimalLongitude: -85.3863; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2017; Event: samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Noctuidae, Chrysodeixisincludens; verbatimEventDate: 02-Mar-2006; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0007086 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Petrona Rios; individualID: DHJPAR0007086; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAV328-06, 06-SRNP-30286, BOLD:AAG93; Taxon: scientificName: Voriaerasmocoronadoi; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Voria; specificEpithet: erasmocoronadoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2017; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Pitilla; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Pasmompa; verbatimLatitude: 11.0193; verbatimLongitude: -85.41; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 11.0193; decimalLongitude: -85.41; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2017; Event: samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Uraniidae, Erosia biolep03; verbatimEventDate: 19-Jan-2006; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0057036 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen, W. Hallwachs & Freddy Quesada; individualID: DHJPAR0057036; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ACGBA4946-15, 15-SRNP-30148, BOLD:AAG93; Taxon: scientificName: Voriaerasmocoronadoi; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Voria; specificEpithet: erasmocoronadoi; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood, 2017; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Pitilla; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Sendero Rotulo; verbatimLatitude: 11.0135; verbatimLongitude: -85.4241; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 11.0135; decimalLongitude: -85.4241; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2017; Event: samplingProtocol: Reared from the larva of the Noctuidae, Diastemamorata; verbatimEventDate: 08-Feb-2015; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Male (Fig. 2a, b, c). Length: 5-7 mm (n=2). Head (Fig. 2b, e): mainly light colored; gena and parafacial with silvery- white pollinosity; frontal vitta gold pollinose; fronto-orbital plate gold pollinose; occiput silvery-white pollinose. Antenna: pedicel dark gray, basally turning to faded orange where it meets the postpedicel; arista dark brown; palpus darkened along basal 2/3, yellow apically. Eye bare; vertex, at its narrowest point, approximately 0.67X as wide as an eye in dorsal view; lateral vertical seta well-developed; ocellar setae proclinate and well-developed, inserted lateral to anterior ocellus; frontal setae descending well into parafacial beyond level of lower margin of pedicel; fronto-orbital plate with three proclinate orbital setae; with short proclinate hairs intermingled among frontal setae and along edges of frontal vitta; three uppermost frontal setae reclinate; parafacial with fine hairs in upper third and a small tuft of hairs slightly above vibrissal angle; one proclinate parafacial seta, below lowermost frontal seta; parafacial at its narrowest point, about as wide as postpedicel; facial ridge straight, with up to three small setae above vibrissa; vibrissa level with facial margin; facial margin not visible in lateral view; gena, in profile, approximately 0.2X height of eye; genal dilation not well developed; occiput slightly convex, with blond setae beyond postocular row; pedicel 0.75X the length of postpedicel; arista bare, basal half twice as thick as apical half. Thorax (Fig. 2a, c, d, f): entirely dark gray, legs black; with four, barely visible dorsal vittae on scutum, not visible postsuturally; prosternum bare, proepisternum bare; postpronotum with two strong inner setae plus two shorter and weaker setae, the three basal setae arranged in a line with one weaker seta in front. Chaetotaxy: acrostichal setae 3:3; dorsocentral setae 3:3; intra-alar setae 3:3; three post-sutural supra-alar setae, the anteriormost one very fine and adjacent to suture; second postsutural supra-alar at least twice as wide at base as first postsutural supra-alar (Fig. 2a, d); three katepisternal setae; katepimeron bare; anepimeron with 3-4 setae, weakly differentiated from surrounding hairs (Fig. 2c, f); anatergite setose; scutellum with three pairs of strong marginal setae (basal, lateral and subapical), and one pair of erect apical setae slightly retracted from apex of scutellum (Fig. 2a, d); basal seta 0.75-0.82X as long as lateral seta; subapical setae crossed and horizontal, slightly longer than lateral setae; scutellum with 2-3 rows of erect discal setae in front of apical setae. Anterior and posterior lappets of posterior spiracle usually subequal in size. Wing(Fig. 2a, d):membrane hyaline, very slightly infuscate; costal spine absent; vein R1 dorsally setulose; vein R4+5 dorsally setulose from fork to beyond intersection with crossvein R-M, halfway to margin; vein CuA1 bare; bend of vein M with a stub about 0.5X as long as crossvein DM-Cu; crossvein DM-Cu very oblique and slightly sinusoidal; cell r4+5 open at wing margin. Legs: black in ground color; medial anterior surface of fore coxa covered with appressed setae; preapical anterodorsal seta on fore tibia much longer than preapical dorsal seta; row of irregularly sized setae present on anterodorsal surface of fore tibia; mid tibia with at least three strong anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with 2-3 dorsal preapical setae; anterodorsal setae on hind tibia irregular in length and thickness. Abdomen (Fig. 2a, c, d, f):black in ground color; T3 and T4 with uniform gray pollinosity extending to tergal edge (when viewed under single point light source this can appear to terminate directly anterior to insertion of marginal setae); T5 with gray pollinosity over 50% of tergum. Abdomen elongate, ovoid, with mid-dorsal depression of ST1+2 extending posteriorly to hind margin of syntergite; ST1+2 without median marginal setae, laterally with a small tuft of slightly thickened setae; T3 with two median marginal setae, lacking discal setae; T4 and T5 each with a row of 6-7 marginal setae; T4 lacking discal setae, T5 with a complete row of discal setae. Terminalia (Fig. 3):posterior margin of sternite 5 with a deeply excavated U-shaped median cleft; lateral lobes of sternite apically squared, with a marginal row of 6-7 setae (Fig. 3d); basal section shorter than apical lobes. Cerci, in posterior view, medially separated and strongly divergent, with a few short setae on basal half (Fig. 3c). In lateral view, cercus sickle-shaped and strongly tapered apically (Fig. 3a), with a medial fork apparent when viewed at an oblique angle (Fig. 1d). Surstylus well-developed, stout basally in lateral view, like a broadly rounded triangle terminating in a small knob, appearing hooked or slightly beaked apically (Fig. 3b); in posterior view, surstyli basally enlarged and apically straight (Fig. 3c). Pregonite plate-like, medially fused; postgonite well-developed, elongate and slender, strongly laterally directed and medially curved so as to appear inwardly hooked when viewed dorsally; postgonite scythe-like, with a slight downward turn in lateral view (Fig. 3b, c). Basiphallus appearing as continuous with epiphallus; basiphallus+epiphallus 0.10X as long as distiphallus; distiphallus long and ribbon-like, apically inflated (Fig. 3a), with a slender, longitudinal, sclerotized parallel reinforcement on each side (Fig. 3a, b), not reaching apex.

Female (Fig. 2d, e, f). length: 5-6 mm (n=2). Identical to the male, differing only in the terminalia.

Diagnosis

Voria erasmocoronadoi sp. n. can be differentiated from its congeners by the following combination of the traits: vertex, at its narrowest point, approximately 0.67X eye width in dorsal view; frontal vitta widened posteriorly, with strong gold pollinosity; fronto-orbital plate gold pollinose, with three proclinate orbital setae; frontal setae descending below base of pedicel, with sparse black hairs intermingled among setae; fronto-orbital hairs extending into upper third of parafacial; and parafacial with only one proclinate seta, below lowest frontal seta. Voria ruralis can be differentiated from V. erasmocoronadoi by the lack of gold pollinosity on the fronto-orbital plate, and the regular length and spacing of the setae on the anterodorsal surface of the fore tibia. In addition to the barcode and the external morphological character differences, our results also suggest that there are strong differences in the shapes of the postgonite and surstylus between the various populations of V. ruralis previously described and our new species. We consider a detailed comparison to exceed the scope of the present paper. Voria aurifrons can be distinguished by the presence of a slight infuscation along the costal margin of the wing, and by having legs of a reddish ground color, two character states lacking in V. erasmocoronadoi .

Etymology

Voria erasmocoronadoi sp. n. is named in honor of Mr. Erasmo Coronado Caballo of Liberia, Costa Rica, in recognition of his years of dedicated logistic support to the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund and to the ACG parataxonomist program, participants of which found and reared the caterpillar hosts of this fly.

Distribution

Costa Rica, ACG (Guanacaste and Alajuela provinces), 121-1150m.

Ecology

Voria erasmocoronadoi sp. n. has been reared seven times at ACG: six times from caterpillars of three species of Noctuidae , Ctenoplusia oxygramma (Geyer, 1832), Chrysodeixis includens (Walker, 1858) and Diastema morata Schaus, 1894, and once from a caterpillar of Erosia biolepDHJ03 in the family Uraniidae . Sites of collection include cloud forest, rainforest, and dry-rain intergrade forest.