Itaplectops tristanpalolai 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 tristanpalolai Fleming & Wood, 2014 sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0011743 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Manuel Rios; individualID: DHJPAR0011743; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAS469-06, 05-SRNP-33719; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopstristanpalolai; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: tristanpalolai; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Pitilla ; verbatimLocality: Pasmompa; verbatimElevation: 440; verbatimLatitude: 11.019; verbatimLongitude: -85.41; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 11.019; decimalLongitude: -85.41; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Epiperolapaida (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 03-Oct-2005; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0011742 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Manuel Rios; individualID: DHJPAR0011742; individualCount: 1; sex: F; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAS468-06, 05-SRNP-33720; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopstristanpalolai; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: tristanpalolai; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Pitilla ; verbatimLocality: Pasmompa; verbatimElevation: 440; verbatimLatitude: 11.019; verbatimLongitude: -85.41; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 11.019; decimalLongitude: -85.41; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Epiperolapaida (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 25-Sep-2005; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Male and female

Length: male 6mm; female 6mm.

Head (Fig. 11c): proclinate orbital bristles present in both male and female; first flagellomere entirely dark or brownish orange over at least 1/2 of its surface; arista dark brown over 3/4 of its length, with gradual taper; frontal vitta bearing a gold sheen when viewed from the front; first flagellomere reaching facial margin; ocellar bristles reduced, almost hair-like, no longer than length of pedicel, arising between posterior ocelli; ocellar triangle bare; frontal vitta approximately 2x as wide as fronto-orbital plate; facial ridge bearing 5-6 stout decumbent bristles; fronto-orbital plate and parafacial entirely silver; parafacial mostly bare though with a few randomly placed fine bristles; fronto-orbital plate of male with fine bristles confined to a row lateral to frontal bristles, these not extending past upper lowest frontal bristl; absent in female.

Thorax (Fig. 11a, b): three postsutural supra-alar bristles, anteriormost greatly reduced to an almost hair-like structure; katepisternum with 2 bristles, anteriormost reduced in size, arising slightly behind suture; apical scutellar bristles long, up to 3/4 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. 11a): smoky yellow.

Legs (Fig. 11b): appearing dark overall, femur at least 1/2 yellow, tibia yellow, and tarsi yellow (although these appear dark due to hirsuteness); dorso-ventral margin of hind tarsi lacking yellow tufts of bristles apically.

Abdomen (Fig. 11a, b): T1+2 with mid-dorsal depression extending halfway along its length, not reaching tergal margin; median marginal bristles present on T4 and T5 but absent on T1+2 and T3. Discal bristles absent. Silver tomentosity present on margins of abdominal segments T3 and T4, only visible under certain angles and not extending beyond 1/3 of tergal surface.

Male terminalia (Fig. 11d, e): both cerci tightly juxtaposed basally, diverging at their tips; cercus haired up to 3/4 of its length; apparently convex when viewed laterally; surstylus 9/10 the length of the cercus, outwardly convex at its center so as to appear slightly outwardly bowed, in lateral view cercus, appears downwardly curved apically giving it a very slight hook at its tip; short stout bristles present along its entire length; phallus 2x as long as cercus, with a downward bend.

Diagnosis

Itaplectops tristanpalolai can be distinguished by the following combination of traits: proclinate orbital bristles present in males; first flagellomere brown/black over 1/2 of surface; legs entirely yellow; median marginal bristles absent on T1+2, absent on T3, but present on T4 and T5; discal bristles absent from all tergites; silver tomentosity present on margins of abdominal segments T3 and T4. It can be distinguished from its most similar congener, Itaplectops anikenpalolae , following couplet 5 in the key to Itaplectops (below).

Etymology

Itaplectops tristanpalolai is named in honor of Tristan Palola of Vermont, USA, a supporter of Eric Palola and Shelly McSweeney, and therefore of GDFCF and ACG.

Distribution

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

Ecology

Hosts

Reared from caterpillars of the Limacodidae Epiperola paida Dyar, 1912.