Phryno Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

Tachi, Takuji, 2013, Systematic study of the genera Phryno Robineau-Desvoidy and Botria Rondani in the Palearctic Region, with discussions of their phylogenetic positions (Diptera, Tachinidae), Zootaxa 3609 (4), pp. 361-391 : 363-367

Genus Phryno Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

Phryno Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 143 . Type species: Phryno agilis Robineau-Desvoidy (by subsequent designation of Townsend, 1916: 8) [= Tachina vetula Meigen, 1824 ].

See Herting and Dely-Draskovits (1993: 235) for a complete list of synonyms.

Description. Head ( Fig. 1 ). Vertex rather wide, distinctly narrower in male than in female; inner vertical seta strong, 1.5–2.0 times as long as posterior reclinate orbital seta; outer vertical seta weak in both sexes; ocellar seta strong, subequal in length to anterior reclinate orbital seta; fronto-orbital plate with many fine setulae; anterior reclinate orbital seta situated behind middle of fronto-orbital plate, subequal in length to posterior seta in male, slightly longer in female; two proclinate orbital setae present in female, absent in male; 7–10 frontal setae, descending to level of lower margin of pedicel; parafacial bare; facial ridge prominent with some short setae on lower 1/6; lower facial margin not produced forward beyond level of vibrissal angle; upper occiput with some rows of black setulae behind postocular setae; postgena bulged, with dense fine white pile; compound eye densely setulose. Antenna with first flagellomere nearly rectangular, 4–6 times as long as pedicel; first aristomere shorter than wide; second aristomere as long as wide; third aristomere bare, thickened on basal half. Palpus clavate; prementum approximately three times as long as wide; labella pad-like.

Thorax. Dorsum and pleura black in ground color, with grayish white or grayish yellow pruinosity; apical part of scutellum orange yellow. Postpronotal lobe with three basal setae in a straight line and one anterior seta, placed anteriorly between middle and inner basal setae; two presutural and three postsutural acrostichal setae, three presutural and four postsutural dorsocentral setae, one presutural and three postsutural intra-alar setae; scutellum with a pair of apical setae fine and crossed, sometimes parallel or divergent, subapical setae strong, approximately 2.5 times as long as scutellum, lateral, basal and discal setae present; proepisternum bare; one proepisternal and one proepimeral setae strong and directed upward; anepisternum with a row of setae along posterior margin; three katepisternal setae, lower seta weak, distinctly shorter than upper anterior seta; katepimeron, katatergite and anatergite bare.

Wing. Hyaline, sometimes pale brownish hyaline basally; tegula black; basicosta brown or dark orange; lower calypter brown to light brown. Vein R1 bare; R4+5 with 1–3 setae at base dorsally and ventrally; distance of vein M between crossveins r-m and dm-cu distinctly longer than that between crossvein dm-cu and bend of vein M.

Legs. Fore tibia with one preapical dorsal, one preapical anterodoral, one preapical ventral, and two posterior setae; mid tibia with one short and one long anterodorsal, two posterodorsal and one ventral setae; hind tibia without preapical posterodorsal and apical posteroventral setae; male claws long, approximately 1.5 times as long as fifth tarsomere, in female shorter; pulvilli subequal in length to claws.

Abdomen. Syntergum 1+2 excavated to its posterior margin; lateral and median marginal setae present on syntergum 1+2 and third tergum; third and fourth terga each with a pair of median discal setae; fourth and fifth terga each with some strong marginal setae; male fifth sternum more or less U-shaped and bearing some long setae on anterior lobes.

Male postabdomen ( Figs. 3–8 , 10–21 ). Epandrium nearly trapezoidal in lateral view with some long setae; surstylus usually slightly curved anteriorly on apical half in lateral view, bearing minute spines ventrodistally, and flattened in dorsal view; cerci narrowly separated on apical portion in dorsal view; hypandrial arms separated and extending posteriorly; pregonite usually triangular in shape, with sometimes some weak setae on dorsal portion; postgonite not fused with pregonite, nearly square and rounded in lateral view; epiphallus narrow and weakly sclerotized; apical portion of distiphallus membranous.

Female postabdomen ( Fig. 9 ). Short; sixth tergum usually divided medially into hemitergites, nearly rectangular, with a few long setae on posterior margin; sixth sternum nearly rectangular, shorter than fifth sternum, with some long setae; seventh tergum separated into two hemitergites, with some setae on posterior margin; seventh sternum nearly trapezoid, longer than sixth sternum, with short setae; eighth tergum of two hemitergites; eighth sternum present; epiproct present, sometimes strongly reduced; spiracles of sixth and seventh segments both on sixth segment.

Egg: Microtype ( Fig. 48 ): Ellipsoid in form, dorsal chorion thin and weakly reticulated, approximately 0.15 mm long and 0.1 mm wide.

Remarks. Phryno is a small genus known from five species in the Palearctic Region (Mesnil 1963; Herting & Dely-Draskovits 1993; O’Hara et al. 2009). In this study four new species are included in this genus: P. brevicornis , P. koreana , P. nepalensis and P. tenuiforceps .

This genus is distinguished from other genera of the tribe in the following combination of characters: compound eye setulose; facial ridge bulged with some short setae on its lower 1/6; anterior postpronotal seta placed anteriorly between middle and inner basal setae; apical scutellar setae fine; distance of wing vein M between crossveins r-m and dm-cu distinctly longer than that between crossvein dm-cu and bend of vein M. The generic key of Tschorsnig and Richter (1998) in the Manual of Palaearctic Diptera is generally very useful for identifying tachinids, but does not work well for all members of this genus (p. 807, couplet 454). This is because almost all species of Phryno from East Asia have a pair of crossed apical scutellar setae, even if they are fine and short.

Phryno brevicornis sp. nov. ( Figs. 3–5 )

Diagnosis. Very similar to P. katoi in general appearance, but differing as follows: male first flagellomere short, 4.0–5.0 times as long as pedicel; male postabdomen with surstylus rather broad and as long as cerci in lateral view; male cerci broad and rounded apically in lateral view.

Description. Male. Face, parafacial, fronto-orbital plate and lower part of gena with whitish gray pruinosity; frontal vitta black or dark brown; upper part of gena, scape and pedicel reddish orange, first flagellomere and arista black or dark brown; palpus light yellow to orange. Vertex 0.30–0.32 of head width; frontal vitta subequal in width to fronto-orbital plate at middle; parafacial subequal in width to first flagellomere; gena 0.29–0.32 of eye height; antenna with first flagellomere 4.0–5.0 times as long as pedicel and 4.0–4.5 times as long as wide.

Thoracic dorsum and pleura black in ground color with grayish yellow pruinosity; postpronotal lobe with grayish white pruinosity; basal 1/4–1/3 of scutellum black, apical 2/3–3/4 orange; apical scutellar setae usually fine and crossed.

Wing. Vein M with section between crossvein dm-cu and bend 1.5–1.8 times as long as that between bend and wing margin. Relative lengths of costal sectors second, third and fourth approximately as 4.0: 6.8: 3.7; ultimate section of CuA1 0.22–0.26 times as long as penultimate section and 0.7–0.8 times as long as crossvein dm-cu.

Legs. Femora light brown with dense gray or blackish gray pruinosity on basal 1/2–3/4, orange yellow on apical 1/2–1/4 of femora, tibiae and tarsi.

Abdomen. Black in ground color, with dense whitish or yellowish gray pruinosity on all terga.

Male postabdomen. Surstylus rather broad on basal part and subequal in length to cerci in lateral view, nearly straight and apex slightly curved outward in dorsal view; cerci rather broad and rounded apically in lateral view, nearly square in dorsal view.

Female. Similar to male, but differing as follows: vertex slightly wider, 0.32–0.35 of head width; legs orange or reddish yellow entirely; antenna with first flagellomere slightly short, approximately four times as long as pedicel.

Body length. 5.7–9.0 mm.

Holotype male (BLKU), Maruyama Park, Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan, 15.v.2007, T. Tachi.

Paratypes. 43 males, 10 females. JAPAN. Hokkaido: Maruyama Park, Sapporo City, 1, 10.v.1968, T. Kocha (SEHU), 5, 15.v., 3.vi.2007, T. Tachi (BLKU); Sapporo City, 5, 15, 30.v.1965, 5, 9.v.1966, 5.v.1968, T. Kocha, M. Suwa and M. Suzuki; Moiwa yama, Sapporo City, 19.iv.1968, T. Kocha (SEHU). Honshu: Karatakizawa, Shiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, 14.v.2001, Y. Matsumura (BLKU); Kanayama (Masutomi), Yamanashi Prefecture, 26.v.1975, A. Nakanishi and J. Emoto (Malaise Trap) (BLKU); Yatsugatake, Yamanashi Prefecture, 1.vi.1967, T. Kocha (SEHU); Shimashima dani, Nagano Prefecture, 22.v.1975, A. Nakanishi and J. Emoto (Malaise Trap) (BLKU); Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, 29.iv.1973, R. Kano (BLKU); Otaki, Saitama Prefecture, 4.v.1972, K. Hara (BLKU); Mt. Kumotori, Tokyo Prefecture, 24.iv.1971, S. Shinonaga (BLKU). Kyushu: Mt. Kuju, 4–5.v.1967, Ohita Prefecture, T. Kocha (SEHU). CHINA. Yunnan, Honghe, Jinping, Fenshuiling, 1950–2250 m, 7.iii.1995, T. Saigusa (BLKU). RUSSIA. S. Primor’ye, Ussuriysk Res., 21.v.1992; Medvezh’ye River (alt. 140 m), 17km SSW of Kronovka, 26.v.1992, T. Saigusa (BLKU).

Etymology. This species is named for its short first flagellomere.

Distribution. Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu), China (Yunnan), Russia (S. Primor’ye).

Host. Unknown.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Male heads in profile. 1. Phryno katoi Mesnil (Hokkaido, Japan). 2. Botria frontosa (Meigen) (Saitama, Japan). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. (Abbreviations. comp eye: compound eye; fir flgm: first flagellomere; ped: pedicel; fa rid: facial ridge).

FIGURES 3 – 5. Male postabdomen of P. brevicornis sp. nov. (paratype). 3. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 4. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 5. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm. (Abbreviations. cerc: cerci; distph: distiphallus; epand: epandrium; epiph: epiphallus; hypd: hypandrium; pgt: postgonite; prgt: pregonite; sur: surstylus).

FIGURES 6 – 9. Male and female postabdomen of P. katoi Mesnil (Hokkaido, Japan). 6. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 7. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 8. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. 9. Female postabdomen in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm. (Abbreviations. st 5: fifth abdominal sternum; st 6: sixth abdominal sternum; st 7: seventh abdominal sternum; t 6: sixth abdominal tergum; t 7: seventh abdominal tergum).

FIGURES 10 – 12. Male postabdomen of P. koreana sp. nov. (paratype). 10. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 11. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 12. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 13 – 15. Male postabdomen of P. nepalensis sp. nov. (holotype). 13. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 14. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 15. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 16 – 18. Male postabdomen of P. tenuiforceps sp. nov. (paratype). 16. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 17. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 18. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 19 – 21. Male postabdomen of P. vetula (Meigen) (Germany). 19. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 20. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 21. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 47 – 54. Microtype eggs showing dorsal chorion in dorsal view. 47. Botria japonica (Hokkaido, Japan). 48. Phryno katoi (Iwate, Japan). 49. Cyzenis sp. (Hokkaido, Japan). 50. Sericozenillia albipila (Tokyo, Japan). 51. Allophorocera rutila (Saitama, Japan). 52. Calozenillia tamara (Hokkaido, Japan). 53. Gonia chinensis (Hokkaido, Japan). 54. Pales pavida (Hokkaido, Japan). Scale bars = 50 μm.