On taxonomy and hosts ofLeptostylumMacquart, 1851 (Diptera: Tachinidae: Blondeliini), with description of a new species and a new host record

Parasitism of Automeris liberia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) by tachinids (Diptera: Tachinidae) in oil palm in the Brazilian Amazon

“…The specimens identified as L. oligothrix can be easily distinguished from other species of the genus by the following combination of features: ocellar triangle and fronto-orbital plate with golden pruinosity, well-developed ocellar setae, eyes sparsely haired with short hairs, palpus yellow, tegula and basicosta black, calyptra white with yellowish margin, basal dorsal surface of tergites 3, 4 and 5 with faint yellowish pruinosity, and postgonite subtrapezoidal (Gudin and Messas 2018). However, our specimens differed slightly from the description by Gudin and Messas (2018) in having the golden pruinosity of the fronto-orbital plate extending bellow the second anterior frontal seta covering the upper half of the parafacial (instead of having fronto-orbital plate with golden pruinosity to the level of the second anterior seta), antenna brown with the apex of the pedicel and the basal portion of the postpedicel reddish brown (instead of antenna being black), labella yellow (instead of labella being reddish-brown), surstylus in posterior view slightly wider and less straight and in lateral view slightly broader at the base, cercus in posterior view narrowing more evenly from base to apex, postgonite narrowing towards apex but more digitiform, and pregonite with posterior margin straighter. Despite the above differences, our specimens were tentatively identified here as L. oligothrix until more material is available for further study.…”

“…The order Lepidoptera represents 70% of known host species (Dindo and Grenier 2014;Dindo and Nakamura 2018). As natural enemies of these primarily phytophagous groups, tachinids have been considered one of the most important groups of biological control agents (Gudin and Messas 2018;Weber et al 2021), both in natural environments and in managed ecosystems (Stireman et al 2019). However, when compared to the diversity of tachinid species, host records for them are still scarce (Scaramozzino et al 2020).…”

“…In both cases, adult parasitoids were collected and preserved in 70% alcohol. The tachinids were identified based on Aldrich (1928) and Gudin and Messas (2018), and the specimens were deposited in the zoological reference Collection of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (ZUFMS), in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Male specimens of Belvosia run to B. williamsi in the key of Aldrich (1928) and, with the exception of the genal hairs without reddish reflections and the postpedicel a little less than twice the length of the pedicel, agree with the description of this species.…”

“…The genus Leptostylum Macquart, 1851 is distributed from southern Mexico to southeastern Brazil. Despite being considered a diverse taxon, with many species yet to be described (Wood and Zumbado 2010), the genus currently has nine valid species (Gudin and Messas 2018;O'Hara et al 2020).…”

“…In South America, species of Belvosia have been previously reported from hosts from the families Arctiidae, Limacodidae, Megalopygidae, Mimallonidae, Notodontidae, Nymphalidae, Saturniidae and Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) (Guimarães 1977). With respect to the genus Leptostylum, most known hosts are lepidopterans from the family Saturniidae (Jacobson 1991;Stireman et al 2009;Gudin and Messas 2018). However, the record of hosts of Tachinidae, especially in the Neotropical region, is still considered scarce (Gudin and Messas 2018).…”