Transcript Argentina Feb/Mar 2006

Field Trip to
Argentina
2006
• 21 February – 8 March 2006
Argentina is in the southern portion of South America.
Here is shown a detail of the collecting route.
Forero, Henry, Carpintero, Coscarón, Sweet, and Rider (left to right)
Dellapé and Forero
The group consisted of senior investigator Thomas J. Henry and PhD
candidate Dimitri Forero from the PBI. With us were three colleagues from
La Plata Museum, Pablo Dellapé, Diego Carpintero, and Maria C. Coscarón.
Two colleagues from USA also joined us, David Rider and Merrill Sweet.
We traveled extensively from La Plata
and Buenos Aires to the western part of
the Andes.
We started collecting in Cordoba, near Villa General Belgrano. The
plant on the right is the host of a Cyrtotylus species. Nothing was
known previously about host associations for this genus.
On this Prosopis (Fabaceae) we
found some Dijocaria, an
Orthotylinae genus with a couple
of described species found only in
Argentina.
The Miridae were collected using a beating
net and aspirator as Tom is doing. We also
tried some light trapping at some localities.
Near Alta Gracia we found on this
Compositae some very small green
Orthotylinae.
Near Mina Clavero, we found more
plants in association with Cyrtotylus.
After collecting during the day
we put the Miridae away in pill
boxes, pressed the plants, and
recorded the information in the
database.
This Ruprectia (Polygonaceae)
harbored a small Cyrtotylus and an
Isometopinae in a locality beyond Mina
Clavero. This habitat was slightly drier
than previous localities.
In Catamarca we found a small
Orthotylinae of the same color as the
underside of the leaves of this plant.
Tom is showing David some of the Miridae
collected. After recording the geographic
coordinates, vouchers of the plants were
collected and pressed later.
Near 3000 meters above sea level Tom
is collecting in a grass-dominated
landscape in Tucuman.
We found plenty
Orthotylinae in Junellia
(Verbenaceae) and Ademsia
(Fabaceae) at this high
altitude, mostly
Araucanocoris and a small
black Orthotylinae.
Lower in altitude and dryer, the
landscape near Amaicha is perfect to
collect more Miridae.
Allionia incarnata (Nyctaginaceae), host of Cafayatina
Larrea divaricata (Zygophyllaceae) host of Hyporhinocoris
We found Hadronemella, Chileria (Orthotylinae), and Cafayatina
(Halticini). Hyporrhinocoris, a nifty Orthotylinae dimorphic genus,
is abundant in Larrea (Zygophyllaceae) bushes.
Towards Cafayate, the ground is very sandy. Here we see a dry river
bank and in the distance the snowy Andes.
More Hadronemella specimens
were collected on this tree. This
genus has a couple of species, but
before the trip nothing was known
about their host preferences.
On this Prosopis (Fabaceae) we found several green Orthotylinae
specimens with a pale embolium.
Close to Cafayate, in Salta, we found a wetter
slope and different plants. Among those was
this Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) associated with
a bright red Phylinae.
On our way back to Buenos Aires we managed to stop near to
the Rio Parana, where we collected a few Phylinae and
Orthotylinae, despite of the extensive soy bean plantations and
urbanization.
A small sample of some of
the other insects we found
in the trip
TRIP RESULTS:
• 31 localities
• > 70 host plants
• all new biological information