Leschenaultia Robineau-Desvoidy 1830
Creators: name: Toma, Ronaldo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tachinidae
Leschenaultia

description: Leschenaultia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
Leschenaultia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 324. Type species: Leschenaultia cilipes Robineau-Desvoidy (= Tachina leucophrys, Wiedemann, 1830), by subsequent designation of Townsend, 1916: 7. For synonyms see Toma & Guimarães (2002), O’Hara & Wood (2004) and Evenhuis et al. (2010)
Recognition. Leschenaultia species, including the new species described here, share the following combination of features. Head (Fig 3): fronto-orbital plate of male with a pair of reclinate orbital setae and without proclinate orbital setae (female with two pairs of proclinate orbital setae); ocellar seta short or well-developed and slightly divergent; inner vertical seta parallel; outer vertical seta reduced and almost undifferentiated from postocular setae in male, sometimes longer in female; parafacial bare below level of lowermost frontal seta; facial ridge with a row of supravibrissal setae ranging from 0.5 to 0.6 of facial ridge length, bordered by smaller and weaker setae and setulae; lower facial margin in profile slightly projected. Torax (Figs 1, 2): acrostichal setae 3+3; dorsocentral setae 3+4; intra-alar setae 2+3; supra-alar setae 2+3; three postalar setae, the second one stronger and longer; intrapostalar seta short; katepisternum with three setae, anterior and posterior katepisternal setae longer and stronger than anteroventral katepisternal seta; scutellum with one pair of basal, two pairs of lateral, one pair of subapical, one pair of apical and one pair of discal setae, and a group of setulae between discal setae; first lateral scutellar seta slightly shorter than second lateral scutellar seta; apical scutellar setae short but longer than setulae on scutellar dorsum. Wing (Fig 4): usually subhyaline with basal fourth infuscate; wing venation constant: cell r 4+5 open with veins R 4+5 and M ending anterior to wing apex; apical section of vein M bent sharply forward. Leg: mid tibia with three to eight stout anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with a row of depressed anterodorsal setae, each seta separated from adjacent seta by no more than its own width. Abdomen (Fig 5): abdominal setulae gradually increasing in size posteriorly, more visible and denser on sides of tergite 4. Male terminalia (Figs 6–19): tergite 6 reduced, with spiracles situated laterally on membrane; sternite 6 asymmetric and narrow, its left margin wider than its right margin, both margins connected to segment 7+8, the left margin slightly fused and the right margin connected by a membrane; hind margin of sternite 6 with two protrusions; sternite 5 with median cleft U-shaped; epandrium, in lateral view, with anterodorsal margin slightly convex, and posterior dorsolateral and ventrolateral margins extending into a triangular lobe; anterior epandrial extension developed; hypandrial apodeme moderately elongated in ventral view; well-marked dividing line between hypandrial apodeme and hypandrial middle plate, the former slightly narrower than the latter; hypandrial arms separated and narrow; pregonite tapering and slightly curved outward and downward, with a row of setulae gradually diminishing in size apically; postgonite shorter than pregonite and slightly clavate and curved downward; epiphallus lobe-like; cercus and surstylus relatively elongate and tapering; cercus in profile with variable curvature; surstylus in profile tapering in basal half and digitiform in apical half; in posterior view, cercus tapering from base to apex, joined along basal half; in posterior view, surstylus flattened. Female terminalia (Figs 20–23): tergite 6 divided and connected by a membrane in the middle; sternite 6 large and subrectangular; tergite 7 completely divided, longer than wide; sternite 7 of irregular pentagonal shape; tergite 8 divided into two narrow parts; sternite 8 small; epiproct small, slightly sclerotized or reduced; hypoproct U-shaped with a posterior lobe at middle, proximal portion of arms folded ventrally; three piriform spermathecae.
Remarks. Two new species from Mato Grosso (L. andarae sp. n. and L. belkysae sp. n.), two from Mato Grosso do Sul (L. frangeri sp. n. and L. marjorieae sp. n.), and one from Rondônia (L. liriai sp. n.) are described. Leschenaultia bicolor is recorded for the first time from Mato Grosso do Sul. Leschenaultia liriai sp. n. represents the first record of this genus from Rondônia.
Within Leschenaultia, abdominal setae arrangements have been shown to be constant within different species and can be used for species recognition. However, their use is limited due to the recurrence of similar patterns between some species and because of intraspecific variation in a few species. Abdominal chaetotaxy, along with shape of cerci and surstyli, have taxonomic value in the recognition of Leschenaultia species (Toma & Guimarães 2002; Toma 2008). Other structures of the male terminalia such as hypandrial arms, pregonite and postgonite have taxonomic importance for recognition of the genus.
Three of the new species described here, L. belkysae sp. n., L. frangeri sp. n. and L. liriai sp. n., resemble L. brooksi. They are very similar in their external morphology, characterized by syntergite 1+2 and tergite 3 with a few very short median marginal setae almost undifferentiated from the ground setulae and tergites 3 and 4 without discal setae. These species can be distinguished from each other mainly by differences in the cercus in profile, especially curvatures of its anterior and posterior portions as well as differences in width and the extent of tapering of the apical portion, as mentioned in the Recognition section under each species (see Toma & Guimarães 2002: fig. 52 for L. brooksi). The other two new species, L. andarae sp. n. and L. marjorieae sp. n., differ from the first three by having syntergite 1+2 and tergite 3 with a few pairs of short median marginal setae differentiated from the ground setulae and tergites 3 and 4 with discal setae. Leschenaultia andarae and L. bigoti are the only two species in this genus with grayish-yellow pruinosity on the head and can be distinguished from each other mainly by the length of the first flagellomere and differences in the male terminalia. Among the Brazilian species, L. marjorieae sp. n. shares with L. cilipes and L. currani the following combination of characteristics: head gray pruinose, syntergite 1+2 and tergite 3 with a few pairs of short median marginal setae, and tergites 3 and 4 with a group of short but well-visible discal setae. These species show little difference in abdominal chaetotaxy and are hardly separated from each other by external morphology, but they can be well separated by the differences in the male terminalia listed in the Recognition section of L. marjorieae sp. n. and as presented in the key.
description: Published as part of Toma, Ronaldo, 2019, Five new species in the genus Leschenaultia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rondônia, Brazil, pp. 103-116 in Zootaxa 4577 (1) on pages 104-105, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4577.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/2628667