Chileria Carvalho, 1985

Forero, Dimitri, 2009, Description of One New Species of Chileria and Three New Species of Orthotylus, with Nomenclatural and Distributional Notes on Neotropical Orthotylinae (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylini), American Museum Novitates 3642, pp. 1-50 : 9-14

Chileria Carvalho

Type species: Chileria araucana Carvalho, 1985 (by original designation).

Chileria Carvalho, 1985: 291 [n. gen.]; Schuh, 1995: 97 [catalog].

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by vesica with a single spicule (figs. 6–8); right portion of vesica with two rami (figs. 6–8); preapical single ramus of vesica directed cephalad, apically bifurcate, apex nearly reaching base of vesica (figs. 6–8); apical small ramus of vesica usually bifurcate with ventral portion long (figs. 6–8); genital capsule with a dorsal process on its lateral left side (figs. 5E, inset; 6–8), except in Ch. araucana (fig. 7); genital capsule with one or two tergal processes on each lateral margin of its aperture (figs. 5E–F, 6–8); left paramere Y-shaped in lateral left view, dorsal portion narrowing apically, ventral portion directed medially and slightly curved (figs. 5E–F, 6–8); phallotheca cylindrical, sclerotized on all surfaces, with opening longitudinal, dorsal, and narrowly sinuate basally, wider apically, turned to the right at apex (figs. 6–8).

Carvalho (1985) considered Chileria close to Saileria due to ‘‘the general aspect [of the body] and the position of the eyes on the head’’. He differentiated Chileria from Saileria by the ‘‘length of the cuneus, which is slightly longer than wide, the straight posterior margin of the pronotum, the strong long setae on the posterior tibiae, and the structure of the male genitalia’’. The resemblance of Chileria with Saileria is superficial. In Chileria , the base of the eye is slightly produced laterally (fig. 1) adjoining the neck abruptly, whereas in Saileria (e.g., S. bella see below, fig. 2), the base of the eye is not strongly produced laterally and is gently converging toward the base of the head (fig. 19A–B). The eyes in the male of Chileria are small relative to the size of the head and close to the anterior margin of the pronotum, the vertex is slightly convex, and the anteocular region of the head is about half as long as the length of an eye (fig. 5A). In Saileria , the eyes of the male are larger, more produced laterally, and removed from the anterior margin of the pronotum; the head has the vertex nearly flat, and the anteocular region is very short (fig. 19A–B). Carvalho (1985) correctly pointed out the differences between the shapes of the posterior margin of the pronotum and genitalia in the two genera. In Chileria , the posterior margin of the pronotum is straight (fig. 1), whereas in Saileria it is emarginate medially (figs. 2, 19B). The vesica in Chileria is well sclerotized and ornamented with several rami (figs. 6–8), whereas in Saileria it is just a single, simple spicule (fig. 20). The structure of the genital capsule is also different; in Chileria , it is relatively large with the aperture small and reclined, and with various tergal processes on its margin (figs. 6–8). In Saileria , the genital capsule is relatively small compared with the abdomen, the aperture is nearly vertical and larger, the margin of the aperture has no tergal processes, and it has a right ventral projection directed caudad (figs. 19G–H, 20). A further difference is the vestiture, which in Chileria is composed of two types of setae, simple decumbent setae and flattened setae (fig. 5D). In Saileria , the vestiture is composed of only simple, long, semi-erect setae (fig. 19D).

DISTRIBUTION: Chileria is known from southern Bolivia to central Argentina and Chile (fig. 9).

HOSTS ASSOCIATIONS: Of the four species of Chileria , only two have specimens with associated plant records. Ch. andina is associated with species of Flourensia DC. (Asteraceae) (see below). Chileria pamparum , the most widely distributed species, have a few hostplant records, mainly from cultivated plants in no related groups as Fabaceae , Malvaceae , and Solanaceae . More host-plant information is needed for species of Chileria before any conclusion can be drawn about its plant associations.

DISCUSSION: Although resembling species of Orthotylus due to their complex and ramified vesica, all species of Chileria differ by sharing the distinct male genitalic structure described above, i.e., the Y-shaped left paramere and hook-shaped right paramere, and the structure of the vesica and phallotheca (figs. 5E–F, 6–8). The dorsal left process on the genital capsule partially defines Chileria . Only in Ch. araucana , the type species, this process is absent. All species of Chileria also share a particular black pattern in the membrane of the hemelytra (fig. 1). This color pattern was not mentioned in the original description of Ch. araucana ( Carvalho, 1985) , although it is partially evident in the discolored paratype examined (fig. 1). A similar color pattern is also present in Cyrtotylus cruciatus Carvalho and Carpintero, 1991 , although it is not related to species of Chileria based on male genitalic structures.

Because no other known Orthotylinae in the Neotropical Region, or elsewhere, share the combination of characters mentioned above, I regard Chileria as a valid genus. I am also including Chileria in the Orthotylus species group of Schuh (1974).

The key to separate the species of Chileria provided below is intended for use only with male specimens. Females are better identified in association with males. Future examination of additional females, in particular of Ch. araucana , may offer new characters to improve species identification.