Botria frontosa (Meigen, 1824)

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 : 378-380

Botria frontosa (Meigen, 1824)

( Figs. 2 , 22–25 )

Tachina frontosa Meigen, 1824: 388 . Lectotype female (MNHN, not examined), by designation of Herting (1972: 7). Type locality: France, Beaucaire.

See Herting and Dely-Draskovits (1993: 237) for a complete list of synonyms.

A detailed redescription of this species was given by Mesnil (1954: 334).

Diagnosis. Male. Vertex wide, 0.35–0.37 of head width; parafacial wider than width of first flagellomere; gena 0.38–0.42 of eye height; antenna with first flagellomere 4.5–5.0 times as long as pedicel; arista thickened on basal 2/3; male postabdomen with surstylus very slender and lacking minute setae ventrodistally, longer than cerci, curved inward on basal 1/ 3 in dorsal view; cerci strongly rounded on basal half in lateral view, nearly triangular in dorsal view. Female. Similar to male, but differing as follows: vertex slightly wider, approximately 0.4 of head width; first flagellomere slightly shorter, 3.5–4.0 times as long as pedicel.

Body length. 9–11 mm.

Specimens examined. JAPAN. Hokkaido: 1 male, 1 female (SEHU), Sapporo, 28.iv., 1.v.1966. Honshu: 1 female (BLKU), Todate, Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, 25.iv.1982; 1 male, 1 female (BLKU), Yorii Town, Saitama Prefecture, 4.iv.1974; 1 male (HYO), Seppikogen, Hyogo Prefercture, 19.iv.1966. Shikoku: 1 female (BLKU), Yura, Kumakogen, Ehime Prefecture, 10.iv.2007 (Malaise trap). Kyushu: 1 female (BLKU), Memaru, Yabe Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, 14.ix.1985.

Distribution. Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu), Europe, Russia, Transcaucasia, Mongolia (O’Hara et al. 2009).

Host. This species is a known parasitoid of lepidopteran larvae of various families (Tschorsnig & Herting 1994).

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 22 – 25. Male and female postabdomen of Botria frontosa (Meigen) (Saitama, Japan). 22. Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. 23. Same in dorsal view (setae omitted on left side). 24. Hypandrium, pregonite, postgonite and phallus in lateral view. 25. Female postabdomen in lateral view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.