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

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: 11-SRNP-32160 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Minor Carmona; individualID: 11-SRNP-32160; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsargentifrons; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: argentifrons; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Alajuela; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Rincon Rain Forest ; verbatimLocality: Puente Rio Negro; verbatimElevation: 675; verbatimLatitude: 10.989; verbatimLongitude: -85.426; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.989; decimalLongitude: -85.426; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Eucleamesoamericana (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 25-Aug-2011; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: 06-SRNP-43634 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Freddy Quesada; individualID: 06-SRNP-43634; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsargentifrons; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: argentifrons; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Pitilla ; verbatimLocality: Estación Pitilla; verbatimElevation: 340; verbatimLatitude: 10.904; verbatimLongitude: -85.303; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.904; decimalLongitude: -85.303; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Eucleamesoamericana (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 09-Oct-2006; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0016106 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Freddy Quesada; individualID: DHJPAR0016106; individualCount: 1; sex: M; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAP135-06, 06-SRNP-43634; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsargentifrons; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: argentifrons; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Pitilla ; verbatimLocality: Estación Pitilla; verbatimElevation: 340; verbatimLatitude: 10.904; verbatimLongitude: -85.303; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.904; decimalLongitude: -85.303; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Eucleamesoamericana (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 09-Oct-2006; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0044962 ; recordedBy: D.H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs, Minor Carmona; individualID: DHJPAR0044962; individualCount: 1; sex: F; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ACGAZ186-11, 11-SRNP-32160; Taxon: scientificName: Itaplectopsargentifrons; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Tachinidae; genus: Itaplectops; specificEpithet: argentifrons; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Wood; Location: continent: Central America; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Alajuela; county: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste; locality: Sector Rincon Rain Forest ; verbatimLocality: Puente Rio Negro; verbatimElevation: 675; verbatimLatitude: 10.989; verbatimLongitude: -85.426; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal; decimalLatitude: 10.989; decimalLongitude: -85.426; Identification: identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2014; Event: samplingProtocol: reared from caterpillar of Eucleamesoamericana (Limacodidae); verbatimEventDate: 25-Aug-2011; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Males and females

Length: male 4-5mm; female 5mm.

Head (Fig. 5c): proclinate orbital bristles present in both males and females; first flagellomere entirely dark or brownish orange over at least 1/2 of its surface; arista dark brown over 1/2 of its length, with gradual taper; first flagellomere reaching facial margin; ocellar bristles reduced, almost hair-like, no longer than length of pedicel, arising behind anterior ocellus; ocellar triangle covered in small proclinate hairs; frontal vitta approximately 2x as wide as fronto-orbital plate; facial ridge bearing 3-4 stout, decumbent bristles; fronto-orbital plate and parafacial entirely silver; parafacial bare; fronto-orbital plate of male with fine hairs confined to a row lateral to frontal bristles, these not extending past lowest frontal bristle; absent in female.

Thorax (Fig. 5a): three postsutural supra-alar bristles, anteriormost greatly reduced to an almost hair-like structure; katepisternum with 2 bristles, anteriormost reduced in size and 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 1-2 pairs of widely separated discal bristles.

Wings (Fig. 5a): smoky yellow.

Legs (Fig. 5b): appearing dark overall, at least 1/2 of femur yellow, tibia yellow, and tarsi yellow (although these may appear dark due to hirsuteness); dorso-ventral margin of hind tarsi with yellow tufts of bristles apically.

Abdomen (Fig. 5a, b): T1+2 with mid-dorsal depression extending along 2/3 of its length, but not reaching tergal margin; median marginal bristles present on T4 and T5 but absent on T1+2 and T3; discal bristles absent from all tergites; silver tomentosity 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. 5d, e): both cerci tightly juxtaposed basally and diverging at their tips; haired up to tapering point, and bare until the tip; cercus, in lateral view, with a downward bend at 1/3 its length then curving back upwards apically,forming a very slight hook at its tip; surstylus 9/10 the length of the cercus, outwardly convex at its center so as to appear outwardly bowed with a slight inward bend apically; surstylus vaguely “S” shaped, with a downwardly hooked tip when viewed laterally; densely bristled along its entire length; phallus 2x as long as cercus, with a downward bend.

Diagnosis

Itaplectops argentifrons can be distinguished by the following combination of traits: proclinate orbital bristles present in males; fronto-orbital plate with silver sheen; first flagellomere brown/black over at least 1/2 of surface; three postsutural supra-alar bristles, anteriormost greatly reduced; median marginal bristles absent on T1+2 and 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 aurifrons , following couplet 7 in the key to Itaplectops (below).

Etymology

From the Latin adjective, argentea, meaning “silver-bearing”, and the Latin noun frons, meaning "forehead" (a common term in insect anatomy), in reference to the solid silver tomentosity of the fronto-orbital plate and parafacial.

Distribution

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

Ecology

Hosts

Reared from caterpillars of the Limacodidae Euclea mesoamericana Corrales & Epstein, 2004.