Molecular identification of Tachinidae flies associated with Euschistus heros (Fabricius, 1798) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Tachinids (Diptera: Tachinidae) are biocontrol agents for various insect pests. These parasitoid flies are associated with stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in soybean areas in Brazil. However, studies about the tachinid species diversity associated with stink bugs are still scarce in the Neotropical region. Therefore, our aim was to identify Tachinidae species associated with the stink bug Euschistus heros collected on soybean fields using DNA barcoding method. We collected E. heros adults (n=1207) in five different localities in Brazil, Piracicaba-SP (22°42'50"S/47°37'29"W) (n=506), Anhumas-SP (22°50'34"S/48°01'19"W) (n=220), Mineiros-GO (17°37'35"S/52°36'58"W) (n=239), Restinga Sêca-RS (29°43'11"S/53°30'57"W) (n=162), and Santa Maria-RS (29°42'43"S/53°35'43"W) (n=80). The adult stink bugs were kept in the laboratory until the emergence of the flies. After, the tachinids (n=84) were morphotyped into 10 morphotypes. Twenty-six individuals had a fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequenced. The COI fragments were submitted to the BOLD System for sequence comparation. We identified among 10 morphotypes, four tachinids species associated with E. heros:Phasiinae sp. 1 identified as Gymnoclytia sp., (97.24% of similarity), Phasiinae sp. 2 identified as Phasia chilensis (Macquart, 1851) (99.69%), Phasiinae sp. 3 identified as Cylindrophasia simillima (Fabricius, 1805) (99.61%) and Syringosoma sp. (99.39%), and Phasiinae sp. 4 identified as Trichopoda sp. (97.98%) and Ectophasiopsis arcuate (98.18%). The Gymnoclytia sp. was the species more frequent associated with E. heros in soybean crops (61,54% of individuals). We confirmed that DNA barcoding is efficient for Tachinidae identification and there is a species complex of Tachinidae associated with E. heros in Brazil.