Belvosia brigittevilchezae Fleming & Woodley, 2023

Fleming, AJ, Woodley, Norman, Smith, M. Alex, Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel H, 2023, Revision of Belvosia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Tachinidae) and 33 new species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica with a key to known North and Mesoamerican species, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 103667-103667 : 103667

Belvosia brigittevilchezae Fleming & Woodley sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0024435 ; recordedBy: D.J. Janzen, W. Hallachs & Leonel Siezar; individualID: DHJPAR0024435; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: ASTAW545-08, 08-SRNP-70056, BOLD:ABY9051; occurrenceID: 405F09D9-27BF-5E9D-A371-A450B12B0CF4; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia brigittevilchezae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: brigittevilchezae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Woodley, 2023; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Pitilla ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Manguera ; verbatimElevation: 470; verbatimLatitude: 10.9959; verbatimLongitude: -85.3984; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 10.9959; decimalLongitude: -85.3984; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Hylesia dalina; verbatimEventDate: 02-Jun-2008; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0001130 ; recordedBy: D.J. Janzen, W. Hallachs & Elieth Cantillano; individualID: DHJPAR0001130; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: HCIC097-05, 03-SRNP-18486, BOLD:ABY9051; occurrenceID: 72F3A4EE-729C-5E90-A9BF-635F40BC8769; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia brigittevilchezae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: brigittevilchezae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Woodley, 2023; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Del Oro ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Quebrada Trigal ; verbatimElevation: 290; verbatimLatitude: 11.0268; verbatimLongitude: -85.4955; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 11.0268; decimalLongitude: -85.4955; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Hylesia continua; verbatimEventDate: 24-Sep-2003; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceDetails: http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu; catalogNumber: DHJPAR0001687 ; recordedBy: D.J. Janzen, W. Hallachs & gusaneros; individualID: DHJPAR0001687; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; preparations: pinned; otherCatalogNumbers: HCIC205-05, 01-SRNP-15600, BOLD:ABY9051; occurrenceID: D6C03F96-0A62-5E9A-B1FE-225F3BA1456A; Taxon: scientificName: Belvosia brigittevilchezae; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Diptera ; family: Tachinidae ; genus: Belvosia ; specificEpithet: brigittevilchezae; scientificNameAuthorship: Fleming & Woodley, 2023; Location : continent: Central America ; country: Costa Rica; countryCode: CR; stateProvince: Guanacaste; county: Sector Santa Rosa ; locality: Area de Conservacion Guanacaste ; verbatimLocality: Cafetal ; verbatimElevation: 280; verbatimLatitude: 10.8583; verbatimLongitude: -85.6109; verbatimCoordinateSystem: Decimal ; decimalLatitude: 10.8583; decimalLongitude: -85.6109; Identification : identifiedBy: AJ Fleming; dateIdentified: 2022; Event : samplingProtocol: Reared from the larvae of the Saturniidae , Hylesia lineata; verbatimEventDate: 01-Sep-2001; Record Level: language: en; institutionCode: CNC; collectionCode: Insects; basisOfRecord: Pinned Specimen

Description

Male (Fig. 13), length: 9-12mm. Head: head slightly wider than thorax; vertex 1/3 head width; gena 1/4 of head height, 1/3 of eye height. Fronto-orbital plate light brilliant yellow-gold in ground color, entirely covered with gold tomentum; ocellar setae absent at most several hair-like setulae present on ocellar triangle; one slightly inwardly lateroclinate-reclinate orbital seta outside of frontal row; two rows of frontal setae, black setulae intermingled with setae, a few light colored yellow setulae extending below lowest frontal seta. Parafacial light yellow in ground color, some gold tomentosity up to 50% extending down from fronto-orbital plate, remainder densely covered in silver tomentum making the entire surface reflective and brilliant appearance; setulose along parafacial outside facial ridge, a small number of setulae extending just below lowest frontal setae; facial ridge setose along 2/3 of its length, with numerous yellow-blonde hair-like setulae emerging along outer edge of row; gena covered in yellow setulae. Antenna, pedicel ranging from light brown to dark burnt orange, contrasting with postpedicel; postpedicel black, 4X as long as pedicel; arista bare parallel sided only tapering to a point at tip. Palps, yellow-orange throughout and densely covered in short black setulae; slightly clubbed, but distinctly so, tapering to a slight point apically. Thorax: black ground color, with sparse light gray tomentum throughout, when viewed dorsally tomentum appears thinner postsuturally, almost glabrous; scutellum appearing dark brown-black to the naked eye, under microscope bronze tomentum becomes apparent when view on an oblique caudal angle; scutum with five dorsal vittae, one outer pair, one inner pair and one single dorsocentral postsutural becoming more evident under certain angles of light; lateral surface of thorax densely covered in long hair-like setulae, these setulae all reddish yellow but often reddish often with dense long black setulae only on proepimeron, proepisternum and anepisternum; meron with a few yellow setulae intermingled with upper meral setae; chaetotaxy: 3 strong setae on postpronotum arranged in a line, acrostichal setae 3:3; dorsocentral setae 3-4:4; intra-alar setae 2:3; supra-alar setae 2:3; 4-5 katepisternal setae; scutellum, with 4-5 pairs of long flat marginal setae of subequal length; apical setae present, short straight and erect, at a slight upward angle from the plane of the rest of the scutellar marginal setae; 1-2 complete rows of scutellar discal setae just posterior to marginal setae. Wing: strongly infuscate, slightly darkened but not orange at wing base, with a brilliant orange basicosta; both upper and lower calypters also infuscate concolorous with remainder of wing; wing vein R4+5 setose, bearing only 2-3 setulae at base; halteres orange stalk with dark black/brown capitulum. Legs: black overall, coxa on midleg and hindleg with a few reddish-yellow setulae; tarsal claws yellow with black tips, with yellow pulvilli subequal to length of tarsal claws; anterodorsal row of setae on hind tibia irregularly sized not fringelike. Abdomen: globose, with black ground color; abdominal tomentosity gold and sparse on T3 confined to anterior 10% of tergite, bronze-gold tomentum along at most 40% of surface of T4 bisected medially by an area devoid of tomentum, densely gold tomentose on 95% of surface of T5 bisected medially by a dorsomedial narrow darkened strip; sparse silver tomentum present ventrally, along tergal margins; middorsal depression on ST1+2 reaching to hind margin of tergite, ventrobasally ST1+2 bearing a few light yellow setulae similar to those on thorax; median marginal setae present on ST1+2 and T3, and complete rows of setae on T4 and T5.

Male terminalia (Fig. 14): sternite 5 with a deeply excavated median cleft along posterior edge, vaguely Y-shaped with a distinct shoulder, marginally tomentose; posterior lobes somewhat rounded apically, with multiple strong setulae. Anterior plate of sternite 5 1/2 as longer as posterior lobes; unsclerotized "window" on anterior plate of sternite 5 ranging from translucent directly basal to posterior lobes, sinusoidal in shape almost as a flat rounded "W". Cerci in posterior view triangular, subequal in length to surstyli; slightly rounded at apex, used along basal half separating apically; in lateral view, with a slight arc at apex; densely setose along basal 2/3rds, underside of cerci bare along anterior 1/2. Surstylus in lateral view, slightly arcuate, tapering apically to a sharp point ending in a slightly downcurved apex making the structure appear somewhat scythelike; surstylus appearing to be fused with epandrium; when viewed posteriorly surstyli slightly divergent. Pregonite usually broad, well-developed, apically squared off, blunt, devoid of setulae. Postgonite, slightly narrowed, 1/3 as wide as pregonite, rounded apically, subequal in length to pregonite. Distiphallus flared broadly cone-shaped, with a slender median longitudinal sclerotized reinforcement on its posterior surface and a broad, anterolateral, sclerotized acrophallus, on anterior surface near apex, ~1.5X as long as basiphallus.

Female (Fig. 15) length: 9-13mm, overall morphology as in male differing in the following traits: Head: bearing 3-4 pairs of proclinate orbital setae in addition to single pair of reclinate orbital setal; lacking any setae in front of post-ocular setae; fronto-orbital plate lacking any gold tomentum with only sparse gray tomentum present, tomentosity so sparse that when viewed from above the fronto-orbital plate can appear glabrous. Thorax: dark gray tomentose throughout, brighter on lateral edges of scutum surrounding supraalar setae. Wing: wing surface dark smokey gray, strongly infuscate, lighter than males. Abdomen: middorsal stripe on T5 gold often incomplete, in terminalia.

Diagnosis

Belvosia brigittevilchezae sp. n. can be distinguished from all other Belvosia by the following combination of traits: fronto-orbital plate gold tomentose (dull gray in females) with a silver parafacial, pilosity of gena, and lowest frontal setulae yellow; basicosta brilliant orange; pilosity of katepisternum, meron and anepimeron, long and pale; abdomen with dark ground color, median marginal setae present on syntergite 1+2.

Etymology

Belvosia brigittevilchezae sp. n, is named in honor of Sra. Brigitte Vilchez in recognition of her decades of being part of the Parataxonomist Program of Area de Conservación Guanacaste (http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr) in northwestern Costa Rica ( Janzen and Hallwachs 2011). Interim species-specific name included in previously circulating databases and publications, Belvosia Woodley03B.

Distribution

Costa Rica, ACG (Guanacaste Province), 10-1150 m elevation.

Ecology

Belvosia brigittevilchezae sp. n. has been reared 180 times from four species of Lepidoptera in the family Saturniidae , Automeris zozimanaguana Brechlin & Mesiter, 2011 (N=1), Hylesia continua (Walker, 1865) (N=64), H. dalina DHJ02 (N=2), H. lineata Schaus, 1911 (N=115), in rain forest, dry forest, and dry-rain lowland intergrade.