Abstract: Plants, herbivores and natural enemies are intrinsically connected in a relationship regarded as tritrophic interactions. Among the natural enemies, Tachinidae (Diptera) is a group of parasitoids that contains 9,748 species described around the world, with the Neotropical Region leading the ranking of richness. Their larvae parasite several hosts of Lepidoptera, including Hesperiidae larvae. The objective of this study is to report a Chrysotachina Brauer et Bergenstamm, 1889 species (Tachininae: Polideini) as the parasitoid of a Perichares Scudder, 1872 species (Hesperiinae: Pericharini, Pericharina) in Brazil. Two immatures were collected during February, 2025 in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and one died. The single larva exhibited characteristics of two Perichares spp., and an individual of Chrysotachina sp. was reared from it, potentially represent a new species. This exemplifies the first report of a relationship between a Tachinidae and a Hesperiinae larva in Brazil. Additionally, it is the first to report Chrysotachina sp. on Perichares spp. in South America, once known only in Central America.
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Supplementary materials [1]
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Document title: Table 1. List of Hesperiidae hosts and their respective Chrysotachina Brauer et Berganstamm, 1889 species available in the literature, followed by the record location and reference
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Document name: 000636000482026-01.docx https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.48.102/01
Additional information
Received: 6 July 2026 · Accepted: 28 August 2026
Editor: Stanislav Abadjiev
Conflicts of interest:
No potential conflict of interest has been reported by the authors, reviewers, or subject editor.
Authors’ contributions (using CrediT ↗):
Ayane Suênia-Bastos: conceptualisation, data curation, investigation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing; Suianne Cajé: investigation, writing—review and editing; Daniela Cubillos: investigation, writing—review and editing; Joshua Pablo Cavalcanti: investigation, writing—review and editing; Jefferson Duarte-de-Mélo: investigation, writing—review and editing; Mirna Martins Casagrande: supervision, writing—review and editing.
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Suênia-Bastos A., Cajé S., Cubillos D., Cavalcanti J. P., Duarte-de-Mélo J., Martins Casagrande M. 2026 A new record of Hesperiinae (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) parasitoidism by Tachinidae (Diptera) in Brazil. Historia naturalis bulgarica 48: 297–305.