Philornis pici (Macquart, 1854)

Aricia pici Macquart, 1854: 659. Syntypes male lost (formerly in MNHN or MHNL). Type locality: Dominican Republic, “St-Domingue.

As stated in “Historical data, the records of this species from Argentina are based on speculation (Bezzi 1922) or on doubtful identifications (Shannon & Del Ponte 1926; Nores 1995).

Garcia’s (1952) description of P. pici, based on five males, four from Tucumán and one from Santa Fe (all lost), is sufficiently vague that it cannot be accepted as a reliable record of P. pici from Argentina, and hence the species is doubtfully recorded from Argentina. None of the specimens examined in the present study correspond to P. pici.

The following diagnosis, based on Macquart’s (1854) original description and on Aldrich (1923), could help a further identification: length of male 12mm; male eyes contiguous; antenna and palpus yellow; scutum bluish-brown with greyish pollinosity and with four brown vittae; legs yellow; wing clear, abdomen bluishbrown with tergite 1+2 and basal half of tergite 3 yellow. Puparium light brown; with large stigmatal plates, spiracles in a deep concavity, smooth inside; spiracular slits very sinuous (Figure 5 of Aldrich 1923). Macquart (1854: 659) described a cocoon “fait de gros filaments blancs et poreux and gave an illustration of the adult male (Pl. 20. No II).