Telothyria

Telothyria species can be distinguished from other tachinid genera by characters of the male terminalia, including distinctive clasper and surstylus morphology. The 2020 revision provides a key to Mesoamerican species based on morphological features and COI gene sequences. Species exhibit varied coloration including metallic green, copper, orange, and gray tones.

Tropical rain forest, tropical dry forest, and cloud forest. In Costa Rica, found from sea level to 2,000 m elevation.

Neotropical region almost exclusively. Documented from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica (provinces of Alajuela and Guanacaste), the Antilles, and broader Mesoamerica.

• Lepidoptera: Crambidae - parasitoidlarvae reared from wild-caught caterpillars
• Lepidoptera: Tortricidae - parasitoidlarvae reared from wild-caught caterpillars

Parasitoid development: larvae develop inside host caterpillars, with adult flies emerging from the host. Specific developmental stages and timing have not been described in detail.

Parasitoid in tri-trophic relationships, linking caterpillar populations to their food plants and regulating herbivore abundance.

• ComatactaProposed as synonym of Telothyria in 2020; previously treated as distinct genus
• FloradaliaProposed as synonym of Telothyria in 2020; previously treated as distinct genus
• PtilomyiaProposed as synonym of Telothyria in 2020; previously treated as distinct genus

• parasitoid
• Neotropical
• tachinid
• caterpillar parasite
• Costa Rica
• biodiversity inventory

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Revision of Telothyria van der Wulp (Diptera: Tachinidae) and twenty-five new species from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica with a key to Mesoamerican species