Chinavia musiva ( Berg, 1878 )

Turienzo, Paola & Iorio, Osvaldo Di, 2008, Insects found in birds’ nests from Argentina: Anumbius annumbi (Vieillot, 1817) (Aves: Furnariidae), Zootaxa 1871, pp. 1-55 : 41-42

Chinavia musiva ( Berg, 1878)

The genus Chinavia Orians, 1965 was proposed for nine afrotropical species which he transferred from Acrosternum Fieber, 1860 . Chinavia was later treated as a subgenus of Acrosternum and included all American species of Acrosternum . Subsequently, Chinavia was considered a valid genus containing 73 species distributed in Afrotropical, Nearctic and Neotropical regions (Schwertner & Grazia 2006). The immature stages of only 4 species have been described ( Schwertner et al. 2002). Most species for which host and food plants are known have been cited from native or cultivated legumes, including soybeans ( Bosq 1940; Ávalos & La Porta 1996; Correa-Ferreira & Panizzi 1999; La Porta & Ávalos 1991, 1993; Saini & Coll 1995; Schwetner et al. 2002). The foodplants of species of Chinavia were summarized by Schwertner & Grazia (2007) and the argentinian records by Di Iorio (2004).

Known geographic distribution of C. musiva comprises Brazil: Río Grande do Sul ( Schwertner & Grazia 2007); Argentina: Salta: Aguas Blancas ( Pirán 1963); Santiago del Estero: Río Salado ( De la Torre & Thomas 1915; Bosq 1937); Santa Fe: Santa Fe city, 29/ 30-I-1946, Hayward & Willink leg. ( Pirán 1948); Corrientes: Dto. Paso de los Libres ( Quintanilla et al. 1975 -1976); Entre Ríos: Dtos. Concepción del Uruguay, Gualeguaychú, La Paz, Paraná, Tala , Villaguay ( Quintanilla et al. 1968); Mendoza ( Bosq 1937); La Pampa ( Bosq 1937); Buenos Aires: Baradero; Buenos Aires city; Carmen de Patagones ( Berg 1878 [syntype-localities], 1879); Pdo. Magdalena, between La Balandra and Punta Blanca ( Darrieu et al. 2001); andean provinces ( Pennington 1919).

Examined specimens were from Argentina: Salta: Rosario de la Frontera, 1 ex. (ODI), light trap; La Rioja: 1 ex. (MACN); Córdoba: Dto. Calamuchita, El Sauce, XII-1938, Viana leg., 10 exx. (MACN), I-1951, Viana leg., 1 ex. (MACN); Santa Fe: Piquete, 4-I-1928, “Mn” [Muhn leg.], 1 ex. (ODI), “ Acrosternum / musiva / Berg / Det. N. Kormilev 956”; Rosario, coll. Stevenin, 1 ex. (MACN); Entre Ríos: Federal, II-1931, 2 exx. (MACN); San Juan: Caucete, 3 exx. (MACN); Mendoza: Cacheuta, 2 exx. (MACN); Buenos Aires: [without locality], 24-[ilegible month]-1897, Venturi leg., 1 ex. (MACN); Pilar, 27-IV-2003, Bachmann leg., 1 ex. (MACN); Verónica, Daguerre leg., 25 exx. (MACN); Parque Pereyra Iraola, 19-XI-2005, J.J. Martínez leg., 1 ex. (ODI); Bahía Blanca , 1 ex. (MACN); Neuquén: Bajada Agrio, X-1964, Gentili leg., 1 ex.. (MACN); Río Negro: [without locality], 10-XI-1899, S. Venturi leg., 2 exx. (MACN); Chubut: [without locality], 1 ex. (MACN); [without locality], 10-III-1898, S. Venturi leg., 1 ex. (MACN); “Pata - / gonia” [green printed label], 1 ex. (MACN).

Bosq (1937) recorded having received specimens of C. musiva from Mendoza stating that they were living on Robinia viscosa Ve nt. [= Robinia glutinosa Sims. ] ( Fabaceae ). Quintanilla et al. (1968, 1975 -1976) failed to find the foodplant of C. musiva in Corrientes and Entre Ríos. Schwertner & Grazia (2007) give three food plants (without localities) as new records: Schinus sp. [ Anacardiaceae ], Mimosa bimucronata Burkart and Prosopis caldenia (DC.) Kuntze [ Mimosaceae ] (this last plant is only present in Argentina). Inmature stages were studied ( Matesco et al. 2006) but the results remain unpublished ( Schwertner & Grazia 2007). Adults from Buenos Aires were eaten by Agelaius thilius [ thilius (Molina) ] [Aves: Icteridae ] ( Darrieu et al. 2001).

Bosq (1937) was the first to report C. musiva from inside old nests on acacias ( Robinia pseudo - acacia Linnaeus) during winter. Daguerre (1927) investigated nests of A. annumbi in Buenos Aires (locality not stated), but nothing was mentioned about insects found in the nests. Nevertheless, Daguerre deposited an unusual amount (25 exx.) of C. musiva in MACN that he collected in Verónica (Buenos Aires).

Achaval (1972) found 265 specimens of an undetermined species of Pentatomidae in 2 nests of A. annumbi from Uruguay. Judging from the quantity of specimens, it is probable that the record must represent C. musiva . Specimens of Hemiptera collected by Achaval were deposited at the entomological collection of the Facultad de Ciencias (Montevideo, Uruguay). Sick (2001), based on Achaval (1972), erroneously states that “os numerosos percevejos pentatomídeos encontrados nas habitacões de Anumbius ( Uruguai) devem ser sobretudo, predadores de outros insetos.”

In the study area (Campo de Mayo), C. musiva was never found outside nests of A. annumbi and was the second most abundant species after C. ancoralis ( Table 4 ). Twig nests of Furnariidae are the preferred by this species for hibernation. They were never found under ritidomes of Eucalyptus during 2005 ( Table 2), nor in previous samplings of one of the authors (ODI) in the province of Buenos Aires. As legumes have been recorded to be foodplants for most species of the genus ( Schwertner & Grazia 2007), it is likely that C. musiva lives on Gleditsia triacanthos , being unnoticed because of its cryptic coloration (greenish with darkened dots). The geographic distribution of C. musiva is given in figure 8.