Tropidosoma bicarinatum Monné & Monné

Turienzo, Paola & Iorio, Osvaldo Di, 2008, Insects found in birds’ nests from Argentina: Anumbius annumbi (Vieillot, 1817) (Aves: Furnariidae), Zootaxa 1871, pp. 1-55 : 37

Tropidosoma bicarinatum Monné & Monné

Although not directly related to the nests (see section III), finding this rare species deserves comment. The genus contains two species, Tropidosoma spencei (Kirby, 1818) , from Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and eastern Argentina (Misiones, Chaco [east of the province], Corrientes, and Entre Ríos); and T. bicarinatum , a presumed endemic from central Argentina (Santiago del Estero, Córdoba), sometimes erroneously identified as T. spencei ( Di Iorio 2003) . True T. spencei was found in Entre Ríos boring into living trees of Celtis tala only found within city limits of Pronunciamiento, whereas in Brazil it feeds on a cultivated madagascarian plant ( Di Iorio & Zelich 1997). No host is known for T. bicarinatum .

From the above information on the native host plant, which is common in Campo de Mayo, and the known geographical distributions of both species, it was initially believed that the species found in Campo de Mayo was T. spencei . It was in fact T. bicarinatum , a new record for the province of Buenos Aires ( Di Iorio & Farina 2006).