A new flesh fly species (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) parasitic on leptodactylid frogs

MULIERI, PABLO RICARDO; SCHAEFER, EDUARDO FEDERICO; DURÉ, MARTA INÉS; GONZÁLEZ, CYNTHYA ELIZABETH

PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Año: 2018 vol. 117 p. 809 - 818

0932-0113

Here we describe a new species of sarcophagid fly reared from larvae found feeding on three species of leptodactylid frogscollected in subtropical Corrientes Province in northeastern Argentina. Our species description is based on adult male and femaleexternal morphology and genitalia. Adult males and females of the new species were associated with certainty because allspecimens studied were reared from single clutches of larvae on each of three infested frogs. Thus, adult males and femalesreared from each clutch were siblings that emerged almost simultaneously. The paper provides line drawings, high-resolutionphotographs, and SEMimages to aid in identifying Lepidodexia (Notochaeta) adelina sp. nov. and to distinguish the new speciesfrom its closely related congeners. We include brief notes on the host species and on larval feeding behavior of L. (N.) adelina.This is the first and only species in the genus Lepidodexia reported to parasitize leptodactylid frogs. Further, our observationsreported here are the first to fully document a completed life cycle by sarcophagid fly larvae on three different species ofleptodactylid frogs and the only well-documented case of myiasis of an amphibian in Argentina.