Pachygaster

Keith Bayless

Pachygaster alpina
Pachygaster annulipes
Pachygaster atra
Pachygaster characta
Pachygaster dorsalis
Pachygaster emerita
Pachygaster flavimana
Pachygaster flavipennis
Pachygaster kerteszi
Pachygaster leachii
Pachygaster maura
Pachygaster montana
Pachygaster nigripes
Pachygaster piriventris
Pachygaster pulchra
Pachygaster subatra
Pachygaster wirthi
Pachygaster antiquus
Pachygaster hymenaea

Introduction

Pachygaster is a nearly cosmopolitan genus. Two species are native to Irian Jaya (Indonesia); two more are native to India, Malaysia, and Thailand; five species are endemic to Europe and Eastern Russia; two species are found around the Mediterranean Sea; P. wirthi is found on Antigua and Dominica; P. flavipennis has been collected in Honduras; P. montana is native to Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico; and P. characta is found in Texas (Woodley 2001). The larvae of Pachygaster piriventris, from India and Malaysia, have been found at internodes of decaying bamboo (Woodley 2001). Pachygaster antiquus and P. hymenaea are known from Mexican and Dominican amber, respectively (Grund & Hauser 2005).

Characteristics

Pachygaster can be distinguished from other Nearctic Pachygastrinae by the following characteristics: Scutellum without distinct posterior rim; hairs on sides of scutum not flattened; R₄ and R₅ separate (James 1981).

References

Grund, M. and M. Hauser. 2005. Pachygaster hymenaea sp. nov. and P. antiqua James, 1971 (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in Neotropical ambers. Zootaxa 1061:29-34.

James, M. T. 1981. Chapter 36: Stratiomyidae. Manual of Nearctic Diptera. 1:497-511

Krivosheina, N. P. 2004. A review of the stratiomyid-fly genera Neopachygaster Austen, Eupachygaster Kertesz and Pachygaster Meigen (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) from Russia and neighbouring countries. Ent. Obozr. 83:490-506.

Woodley, N. E. 2001. A World Catalog of the Stratiomyidae (Insecta: Diptera). Myia 11: 1-473. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.

Information on the Internet

Harvard MCZ Type Images. Images of Pachygaster pulchra.
Diptera.info. Image of Pachygaster atra.
UMN: Cedar Creek Insects. Image of Pachygaster.
Zootaxa. Grund and Hauser (2005) pdf.

About This Page

Keith Bayless
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Keith Bayless at

First online 29 September 2008

Citing this page:

Bayless, Keith. 2008. Pachygaster. Version 29 September 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pachygaster/108646/2008.09.29 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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