The Froggattimyia-Anagonia Genus Group (Diptera: Tachinidae)
Creators: name: Colless, Donald H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy

description: Anagonia opaca (Malloch)    
Figs 54, 55, 88  
 Delta opaca Malloch, 1930:334.   
 Type. Holotype female in ANIC, Sydney, NSW.   
 A small, very dark, strongly bristled species; not especially resembling any other, but attributes not mentioned below are more or less as in the pale form of A. rufifacies.   
 Male. Head. Width 1.7–2.4, mean 1.88 mm; gena rather narrow, Gnw/Eyh mean 0.30; Ivb/Vb-E 1.3–1.8, mean 1.56. Eye bare. Ground colour of fronto-orbital plate and parafacial dark brown, almost black, of gena dark brown, all with stout silvery dust. Reclinate upper frontal bristles widely spaced, above ptilinum 4–5 in number on at least 1 side (other species with 5–10, usually 6 or more), very stout, rather erect but apically cruciate. Upper occiput with mainly black hairs, forming 1 complete row behind postocular row, plus several partial rows of scattered hairs. Ocellar bristles very stout, divergent, comparable in size to adjacent reclinate upper orbital bristles; 2–3 postocellar bristles, usually 2.   
 Thorax. Median dark vitta stout. Presutural intra-alar bristle almost always undifferentiated; usually 2+4 dorsocentral bristles; no intrapostalar bristle. Scutellum typically with broad basal wedge of dark colour and paler border; apical scutellar setae usually parallel, variable in strength but commonly rather fine.   
 Wings. Calypters usually pale, upper one sometimes grey-brown brown to black; tegula dark brown, basicosta somewhat paler.   
 Legs. Dark. Foretibia with preapical ad spine 0.5–0.8 length of adjacent d spine. Hindtibia with very coarse, sparse ad comb; pd1 usually noticeably short, Pd1/Sdd 0.7–1.0, mean 0.88.   
 Abdomen. Very dark, pale lateral areas often restricted to tergite 3, extending at most anteriorly on to tergite 4; submedian marginal pair of bristles strongly developed on tergite 3 (rarely a fine pair on syntergite 1+2); dorsum of tergite 4 often with 1 or 2 stout discal bristles (or an anteriorly displaced marginal); bristles on tergite 5 conspicuously long and stout.   
 Terminalia (Figs 54, 55). Surstylus in lateral view pointed, with very characteristic anteriorly curved, sickle-like shape; cercus much shorter than surstylus; basal lobe relatively long but not very prominent, with many microtrichiae scattered amongst the setulae, about as long as apical part and separated from it by a distinct area of membrane; apical part digitate, frequently exserted as in Fig. 54. Epiphallus scarcely developed, at most a very slight prominence.   
 Female. Association based on co-collection, plus stout resemblance in chaetotaxy (I cannot however exclude the possible inclusion of a few specimens of some very similar species, e.g., A. minor). Differs from male in usual sexual characters, including paler integument, stouter silvery pollen, and median vitta of thorax usually missing. Also, reclinate upper frontal bristles above ptilinum often only 2 or 3 in number; tegula brown, basicosta pale brown.   
 Terminalia (Fig. 88). Tergite 6 deeply emarginate apically or completely divided; sternite 6 with small but distinct setulose median projection. Tergite 7 finely sclerotized, hemitergites more or less parallel-sided, not expanded basally; sternite 6 finely sclerotized on basal half, apical half broad in ventral view, only a little longer than wide, rounded apically; in lateral view scoop-like, with a slight but characteristic ventral deflexion.   
 Distribution. I have specimens from all mainland states, but none from the wet tropics.   
 Biology. All material was netted or taken at light. Nothing is known of the host, which is presumably a rarely investigated beetle.   
 Notes. A very distinctive species, especially in the male with its strongly developed ocellar bristles. The female holotype is old and fragile and I forbear to dissect its terminalia. However, I have no doubt about the identity of this species, and the association of the sexes.
description: Published as part of Colless, Donald H., 2012, The Froggattimyia-Anagonia Genus Group (Diptera: Tachinidae), pp. 167-211 in Records of the Australian Museum 64 (3) on pages 199-200, DOI: 10.3853/j.0067-1975.64.2012.1590, http://zenodo.org/record/4684127