Megaselia rufipes (Meigen, 1804) (Diptera: Phoridae): a new cause of parasitoidism in caterpillars of Chondrostega hyrcana Staudinger, 1871 (Lepidoptera, Lasiocampidae)

The article presents the first recorded case of parasitism by the phorid fly Megaselia rufipes on caterpillars of Chondrostega hyrcana. This is the first record of M. rufipes in Tajikistan. The species was discovered in the spring of 2024, during the collection of material on butterflies from Southern Tajikistan, Khatlon region, Nosiri Husrav district, Tyuntau ridge (37.305564, 67.973511). A total of 45 specimens were studied. Morphological analysis and imaging were conducted large depth-of-field 3D Digital Microscope (Keyence VHX-1000C). Genetic analysis was performed at the National Animal Collection Resource Center, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of sciences. The cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcode sequence was compared against the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) database, with a threshold of less than 3% divergence. The sequence was deposited in GenBank under the accession number PV167921.