Pelamera atra (Rondani, 1861) (Diptera: Tachinidae)-systematics of a rare and enigmatic bristle fly from Europe

Pelamera atra(Rondani, 1861) is an enigmatic species of bristlefly that has been challenging dipterologists with regard to its taxonomic position within the family Tachinidae since it wasfirst described. Thespecies is rarely collected and is only known from a handful of female specimens. Thefirst ever malespecimen ofP. atrawas collected in southern Italy in 2017, and it allowed for the discovery of its uniqueterminalia. The present paper provides thefirst description of a male ofP. atraand presents new insightsabout its phylogenetic position within the family based on molecular data. A maximum likelihoodanalysis was conducted on a selection of tachinid taxa using sequences of two nuclear protein-codinggenes (CAD and MCS) to formulate thefirst hypothesis concerning the phylogenetic placement ofP. atra. Phylogenetic analyses reconstructedP. atraas a member of the Tachininae sister to the(Loewiiniþ(PolideiniþErnestiini)) clade. This reconstruction challenges previous attempts at classi-fyingPelamerabased on female external morphology, which instead suggested a close affinity to thetribes Brachymerini or Minthoini. Due to the morphological distinctiveness of this taxon, we here pro-pose the placement ofP. atrain the monotypic tribe Pelamerinistat. rev.