Revison of Metaplagia Coquillett (Diptera: Tachinidae) with description of five new species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica

Background We revise the genus Metaplagia Coquillett, 1895 and describe five new species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG) in northwestern Costa Rica. All new species were reared from an ongoing inventory of wild-caught caterpillars spanning a variety of species within the family Sphingidae (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Our study provides a concise description of each new species using morphology, life history, molecular data and photographic documentation. In addition to the new species, the authors provide a redescription of the genus and a revised key to the species of Metaplagia. New information The following five new species of Metaplagia are described: Metaplagia leandennisae Fleming & Wood sp. n., Metaplagia lindarobinsonae Fleming & Wood sp. n., Metaplagia paulinesaribasae Fleming & Wood sp. n., Metaplagia robinshervvoodae Fleming & Wood sp. n. and Metaplagia svetlanakozikae Fleming & Wood sp. n. The following is proposed by Fleming & Wood as new combination of Plagiomima Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1891: Plagiomima latifrons (Reinhard, 1956) comb. n.

Automated summary

The study revised the genus Metaplagia in northwestern Costa Rica, describing five new species and providing detailed descriptions of the new species, as well as a revised key to the genus and a new combination of a species within the genus.