Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

Shima, Hiroshi, 2020, The genus Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Japan, Zootaxa 4816 (4), pp. 541-575 : 542-543

Genus Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy

Ernestia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 60 . Type species: Ernestia microcera Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (= Tachina rudis Fallén, 1810 ), by monotypy.

Fausta Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 62 . Type species: Fausta nigra Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (= Tachina nemorum Meigen, 1824 ), by subsequent designation of Townsend (1916: 7).

Panzeria Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 68 . Type species: Panzeria lateralis Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (= Tachina rudis Fallén, 1810 ), by monotypy. Valid as “Determination of precedence of names or acts by the first reviser” according to Article 24.2.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (I.C.Z.N. 1999).

Eurithia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1844: 24 . Type species: Erigone puparum Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (= Tachina caesia Fallén, 1810 ), by monotypy.

Appendicia Stein, 1924: 54 . Type species: Tachina truncata Zetterstedt, 1838 , by monotypy.

[For synonyms of Nearctic genera see O’Hara & Wood (2004).]

Diagnosis. Male and female. Head usually dichoptic, frons sometimes narrowed above; eye hairy; parafacial wide; gena broad, with genal dilation; face concave, lower margin more or less projected forward; occiput bulged; inner vertical seta sometimes distinct in male, always well developed in female; outer vertical seta absent in male, well developed in female; ocellar setae sometimes fine, but distinct; a row of frontal setae present; prevertical, reclinate orbital seta and proclinate (sometimes outwardly directed) orbital setae present in female, absent in male; antenna rather short and stout, postpedicel at most 2 times as long as pedicel; palpus club-shaped. Thorax: prosternum bare; postpronotal lobe with 4–5 setae, the 3 basal setae set in a triangle; 1–2 posthumeral setae; 0–3 presutural and 0–3 postsutural acrostichal setae; 3 presutural and 3–4 postsutural dorsocentral setae; 0 presutural and 3 postsutural intra-alar setae; 3–5 supra-alar setae; proepisternal and proepimeral setae developed; anepimeral seta strong; 2–3 katepisternal setae; katepimeron bare; anatergite bare or fine-haired; postcoxal bridge not sclerotized; scutellum with 4–5 pairs of marginal setae, lateral seta sometimes double and apical setae sometimes absent. Wing with tegula and basicosta black; cell r 4+5 open; bend of vein M rarely with a short appendage; vein A 1 +CuA 2 not reaching wing margin; lower calypter bare. Legs with fore and mid tarsomeres sometimes dilated in female; claws and pulvilli long in male, short in female. Abdomen with syntergite 1+2 depressed mid-dorsally, extending to posterior margin; median marginal setae present on 3rd tergite, a row of marginal setae on 4th tergite and discal and marginal rows on 5th tergite; 2nd to 4th sternites rather exposed; male 5th sternite with a rather short inverted V-shaped (rarely U- shaped) posteromedian excavation. Male terminalia large, sometimes well exposed on abdominal apex; 6th tergite entire, free from syntergosternite 7+8 or fused mid-dorsally with latter, if fused then intersegmental suture distinct; 6th abdominal spiracle on ventral portion of 6th tergite; 7th abdominal spiracle on anteroventral portion of syntergosternite 7+8; epandrium sometimes with incision on posterodorsal margin above cerci; cerci fused together, middorsal suture recognizable or indistinct; surstylus sometimes with spines apically; bacilliform sclerite flat rod-like, continuous to inner wall of surstylus; dorsal arms of hypandrium rather short, fused dorsally and encircling base of phallus; pregonite lobe-like, with fine setae; postgonite usually shorter than pregonite, sometimes with short fine setae; epiphallus usually absent. Female terminalia usually short; 6th tergite sometimes narrowly divided mid-dorsally, with strong setae; 8th tergite sometimes absent, if present, then without hairs; 8th sternite reduced to a small quadrate or elliptic sclerite, with fine hairs; epiproct present or absent, if absent then 1 or 2 pairs of setae present on area of epiproct; cerci well developed; hypoproct rather large, semicircular in form.

Remarks. Panzeria is usually placed in the tribe Ernestiini of the subfamily Tachininae ( Herting 1984; Tschorsnig & Herting 1994; O’Hara & Wood 2004; Richter 2004) together with the green-bodied tachinid genera Gymnochaeta Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , Janthinomyia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1893 and Symmorphomyia Mesnil & Shima, 1977 , the tenthredinid parasitoids Hyalurgus Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1893 , the centipede parasitoids Eloceria Robineau-Desvoidy, 1863 and Loewia Egger, 1856 , and some others. O’Hara & Wood (2004) included the Linnaemyini within the Ernestiini, Cerretti (2010) treated the two as the group “ Ernestiini / Linnaemyini ” and O’Hara & Cerretti (2016) included Eloceriini, Linnaemyini and Loewiini in Ernestiini .

Stireman et al. (2019) analyzed a molecular phylogeny of the Tachinidae , in which they showed the paraphyly of the tribe Ernestiini and the monophyly of Panzeria , with sister relationship to Hyalurgus . In the analysis, Panzeria + Hyalurgus is sister to the tribe Polideini , comprising 38 Nearctic, Neotropical and Palearctic genera (only 4 Palearctic genera included, Lydina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , Lypha Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , Lyphosia Mesnil, 1957 and Micronychia Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889 ). The genera Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 and Chaetophthalmus Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1891 form a sister group to the above Polideini and Panzeria + Hyalurgus clade, and the green-bodied tachinids Chrysosomposis and Gymnochaeta and black tachinid Zophomyia are in a separate clade.

It is not easy to reconcile the recent molecular phylogenetic results with the usual morphological systematics of the Ernestiini . Most of the genera mentioned above are very similar to each other, even in the male and female terminalia. The genus Panzeria is very similar to Hyalurgus in the terminalia of both sexes, although the hosts of the former are lepidopterous larvae, mainly Noctuidae , and those of the latter are sawfly larvae ( Tenthredinidae ). Both have the 6th abdominal spiracle situated in the ventral portion of the 6th tergite in the male. This minor character state is not found, so far as I have seen in the Palearctic genera, in the green-bodied Gymnochaeta, Japanthinomyia and Chrysosomopsis , the black-bodied Zophomyia , and one of the Palearctic polideine genera, Lypha . It is, however, variable (up to the subgenera?) in the genus Linnaemya , with the 6th abdominal spiracle situated in the membrane below the 6th abdominal tergite or included in the ventral portion of the tergite. In the genera Symmorphomyia and Eloceria , the 6th abdominal spiracle is included in the tergite. It is necessary to examine more carefully the morphology of these tachinid genera to further resolve their relationships and to propose the appropriate tribal classification for them.