Twenty-two new species in the genus Hyphantrophaga Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, with a key to the species of Mesoamerica

Twenty-two new species of the parasitic fly genus Hyphantrophaga (Diptera: Tachinidae) have been identified from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwestern Costa Rica. These discoveries, reared from a diverse range of caterpillar hosts spanning 30 lepidopteran families, include detailed morphological descriptions, life history data, molecular analyses, and photographic documentation. The study also resolves taxonomic ambiguities by proposing five new synonyms for previously described genera and nine new combinations within Hyphantrophaga. Additionally, three previously known species—H. angustata, H. myersi, and H. virilis—are redescribed based on ACG specimens. This research significantly expands the understanding of tachinid fly biodiversity in Mesoamerica and provides a key for species identification in the region.

Fleming, A., Wood, D. M., Smith, M. A., Dapkey, T., Hallwachs, W., & Janzen, D. (2019). Twenty-two new species in the genus Hyphantrophaga Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, with a key to the species of Mesoamerica. Biodiversity Data Journal, 7. https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.7.e29553