Eudexia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889

Santis, Marcelo Domingos De, 2021, The Neotropical genus Eudexia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889 (Tachinidae: Dexiinae: Dexiini): lectotype fixation for the type species, synonymy and a new species from Brazil, Zootaxa 5004 (4), pp. 538-550 : 539-540

Genus Eudexia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889

Eudexia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889: 120 ( 1890: 52) . Type species: E. goliath Brauer & Bergenstamm (by monotypy) = E. formidabilis ( Bigot, 1889) .

Chaetocalirrhoe Townsend, 1935: 217 . Type species: C. grandis Townsend, 1935 (by original designation). Syn. nov.

Cordillerodexia Townsend, 1927: 226 . Type species: C. orientalis Townsend, 1927 (by original designation). Syn. nov.

References: Townsend (1936: 131, diagnosis of adults and immatures of Prosenini including Eudexia , Chaetocalirrhoe , and Cordillerodexia ); Townsend (1938: 323, redescription of Chaetocalirrhoe ; 324, redescription of Cordillerodexia ; 334, redescription of Eudexia ); Guimarães (1971: 28, Chaetocalirrhoe ; 29, Eudexia and Cordillerodexia ; catalog); Wood & Zumbado (2010: 1384, Eudexia in key to Central American Tachinidae ; 1403, comments about distribution and relationships of Eudexia ); Evenhuis et al (2015: 71, Chaetocalirrhoe ; 91, Cordillerodexia ; catalog of Townsend’s genera); Nihei (2016: 909, inferred distribution of Eudexia and Cordillerodexia ; catalog of Colombian Tachinidae ); O’Hara & Henderson (2020: 18, Chaetocalirrhoe ; 22, Cordillerodexia ; 30, Eudexia ; world checklist of tachinid genera); O’Hara et al. (2020: 36, Chaetocalirrhoe ; 37, Cordillerodexia ; 49, Eudexia ; checklist of World Tachinidae ).

Included species:

brevicornis ( Macquart, 1851a: 203 [also 1851b: 230]) ( Prosena ). Holotype male (examined): Brazil, Bahia ( MNHN).

Comb. nov.; colombiana ( Townsend, 1929: 300) (Cordillerodexia) . Holotype male (examined): “ Colombia ” (DEI). Comb.

nov.;

dreisbachi Reinhard, 1956: 127 . Holotype male (not examined): Mexico, Michoacan, Tzintzuntzan (USNM); formidabilis ( Bigot, 1889: 264) (Rhamphinina) . Type species. Lectotype male (here designated): “ Mexico ”

(NHMUK);

goliath Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889: 52 , 128. Holotype male: “ Venezuela ” (NHMW);

nemorina Schiner in Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1891: 113, 417. Nomen nudum; grandis ( Townsend, 1935: 218) (Chaetocalirrhoe) . Holotype male (examined): Haiti, Kenscoff ( USNM). Comb.

nov.; orientalis ( Townsend, 1927: 366) (Cordillerodexia) . Holotype male (examined): Peru, Saint Martin ( USNM).

Comb. nov.

Diagnosis. Eudexia is keyed in couplet 178 of the key to Tachinidae genera in the Manual of Central American Diptera ( Wood & Zumbado 2010: 1384) , alongside Hystrichodexia . In order to further differentiate Eudexia and allied genera of Dexiini with spine-like setae on the abdomen, the following diagnosis is proposed: head with postpedicel about 1.5x the combined length of the scape and pedicel; fronto-orbital plate silvery pruinose; facial carina present; prementum at most 1 to 2x the length of head. Abdomen with discal setae covering all of tergite 3 except for small anterolateral region overlapped by wing; discal setae on tergite 4 arranged in at least three transverse rows; abdomen yellow in ground color with a longitudinal vitta from syntergite 1+2 to tergite 5. Eudexia superficially resembles the genera Hystrichodexia and Echinodexia in general appearance, particularly for head and thoracic characters; however, Eudexia can be separated from these genera mainly by the following characters: facial carina present, abdomen with discal setae on tergite 4 arranged in at least three transverse rows, and abdomen yellow in ground color.

Distribution. Mexico (Michoacán, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Guerrero states); Haiti (Ouest department); Costa Rica (San José); Venezuela; Colombia; Peru ( Saint Martin department); Brazil (Bahia, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states).

Note. Guimarães (1971) considered three species of Eudexia as valid; one of them was E. obscura ( Bigot, 1889) , originally described as Prosena obscura Bigot, 1889 . However, years before this work, this species was synonymized by Wulp (1891) with Rhamphinina anthracina Bigot, 1889 , described based on four males and three females from Mexico, placed in Ptilodexia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889 by Guimarães (1971). In his comments, Wulp affirmed to have seen the holotype of Prosena obscura . This synonymy was not followed for Guimarães (1971), as he considered this species valid by placing it in Eudexia . While searching the type material of Bigot in NHMUK, the holotype of Prosena obscura was not found, and it is here considered lost or destroyed. Wulp saw the types of both species, i.e., Prosena obscura Bigot, 1889 and Rhamphinina anthracina Bigot, 1888 , and Guimarães (1971) did not mention any analysis of types when keeping E. obscura as a valid species of Eudexia in his catalog. Therefore, I consider the synonymy made by Wulp (1891), of Prosena obscura Bigot, 1889 as a junior synonym of Ptilodexia anthracina (Bigot, 1888) , as valid.