Revista Chilena De Entomología, Now in (Nemestrinids) and Ureta (Lepidoptera)

Rev. Chilena Ent, 1974, 8: 6-10 INSECTS — MEN AND ENVIRONMENT IN CHILE Dr. LUCIANO E. CAMPOS (*) We Chileans have boasted for much too huge pioneer enterprise that from 1844 long that our country, in the Southern up to 1871, two years before his death in tip and Western slopes of South Ame- France, he released under his authorship,^ rica, is a biological and ecológica! island, printed in Paris and in Spanish, his isolated to the North by a dry desert monumental "Historia Física y Política 800 miles long; by the tallest range of de Chile", in 28 volumes and two large mountains, the Andes, to the East ; by the Atlases, covering some 15.000 printed largest Ocean to the West; and by the pages, and the description of about 2.500 wind swept freezing encounter of two plants, animáis and Insects from the vast seas in the Strait of Magellan and country he strenuously surveyed for years, the Beagle Channel to the South. preferably on the back of a horse! i This notion of geographical isolation of We will have to mention again this Chile was first noted by a distinguished outstanding "Chilean citizen", as he French naturalist during the ten years proudly referred to himself, who found in he lived in the countiy, and published in Chile, a just born-to-freedom disorganized 1845 (**). nation, an unexpected thorough meaning This man was Claudio Gay, who carne and a full sense of purpose for the 43 to Chile in 1829 and was commissioned in remaining years of his long life. 1830 by the Chilean Government to pre- pare and edit a full research of the Na- As I was saying, it was Gay who first tural History of our country (Fauna, expressed this apt observation about the Flora, and mineral resources), and on geographical isolation of Chile, and his the Civil History, Agriculture and other concept has been repeated and elaborated natural resources as well. rather at large for the past 120 years. So thoroughly did he accomplish this The notion of isolation between mighty natural barriers which characterizes Chi- NOTA: Este trabajo en inglés del Dr. Campos le, would indeed mean little if we don't representa una conferencia sobre Chile y sus In- consider it from angles other than mere sectos, que fue solicitada al Presidente de la So- Geography, such, as in our case, Biology ciedad por las autoridades de la Entomological So- and Ecology. For undoubtly isolation ciety of America, para ser presentada y leída en generates typical and exclusive forms and la reunión anual de la ESA, de Dallas, Texas, biocenosis of Flora and Fauna, of Insects noviembre de 1973. Diversas circunstancias impi- and Men. dieron al Dr. Campos concurrir a esta reunión Let me start anew to point out that anual, y al Dr. R. I. Sailer, Miembro Honorario Chile has a territory larger than the de nuestra Sociedad, leerla en su reemplazo. Por Republic of Texas; with about the same estos motivos la incluimos como Editorial de este crops and geographical exposure than volumen dedicado a Claudio Gay, sin modificar California : a long and narrow strip runn- la versión original de la conferencia del Dr. ing North to South; and with about the Campos. population of New York City. EDITOR. It spreads for 38 amazing degrees of Latitude South, from 18 to 56 degrees, (*) Sociedad Chilena de Entomología. Professor and it runs for some 3.000 miles of of Entomology and Dean of the Faculty of length, being her widest section though Agriculture, Universidad de Chile. Santiago, hardly 150 miles, from the Pacific to the Chile. Andes. (**) C. Gay, Botánica 1, Prólogo, pág. 4, París, Her two northern provinces form a dry 1845. desert where never rains, and from where : Campos: Insect - Men and Environment in Chile come most of our exports of copper and As a matter of fact, we Chileans claim ! nitrate. The adjoining provinces to the to be a distinct well defined Indo-ame- South, down to Santiago, represent our rican race, which resulted from the ine- arid zone, with 10 to 50 inches of rain, vitable cross of the Spanish Conquistador Iwhere mineral resources (iron, mangane- and the native Araucanian woman, blen- ase, gold and silver) combine with hard- ded and mellowed, as a rare antique í striving agriculture and meager live Scotch, by more than 400 years of isola- stock to make the living of the people. tion with immigration nihil. It may be IFrom our capital city of Santiago down worth to note that Spanish ladies did not to Puerto Montt, and for some 650 miles, come to Chile until well advanced the ! develops a rich farm and cattle land, conquest, while adult native men were where wheat and other small grains are devastated by a cruel war against the grown; températe fruit trees and vine- invaders which lasted 400 years! yards flourish ; alfalfa, clover and grasses Our Southern native forests, the Val- support million of cattle and sheep ; while divian that is, is mostly composed of seven native and planted forests provide us and or eight species of tall Nothofagus (Fa- 'our foreign markets with cellulose and gaceae), about 50 species of Myrtaceae, wood. This is the Central Valley, and the which add fragance to the environment, most populated and industrialized section plus many Lwuraceae, and only six genera of the country. of native Conifers, notably. Araucaria, j Chiloé, Aysén and Magallanes, our last Fitzroya, Libocednis, Podoca/rptis, etc. three southern-most provinces, are the Bamboo-like big Gramineae, such as our realm of cold, rain and wind, with forests several species of "quilas" {Chuequea and snow, ocean and fish, glaciers and spp.) fill the forest and make it sometimes fiords, sheep raising and poor grasses. In insurmountable. Mosses like Dendrol- the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas with igotrichum dendroides, biggest moss in 100.000 people, is the southern-most city the world, and globiform species of the of the world. genus Rigodium, with numerous native The joke goes in Chile, that God the Solanaceae and wild-strawberries (Fra- Creator, after seven days of hard labor, goA-ia chilensis) cover the floor of these setting of the world out of chaos, was in- characteristic forest (*). Our beautiful deed tired and weary, when Angels appro- Chilean palm {Jubaea spectabilis) does ached Him with concern to tell that there not reach the Valdivian latitude though. still were huge assortment of deserts, This Austral forest is a silent forest, oceans, mountains, lakes, forests, volca- because singing birds are rather scarce noes, rocks, glaciers, islands and the rest, in its chilling grandeur. Only noisy swarms that they didn't know where to place. The of our common green paroquet break sensible answer from the Almighty was down this majestic silence. Mammals and well, throw it away in any remote córner rodents too are sparing all through the still available! And this, gentlemen, was country. the way in which Chile was supposedly As for our Insects, they are the central built. theme of my talk and the reason we are This brief colloquial description should here. This endless realm of marvels, be completed adding that Chile also has which provide a living for us all, is petroleum in the Strait of Magellan, plus perhaps the group of animáis that better coal in the Ocean bottom; abundant characterizes our secluded environment. electricity from our many torrents, rivers We have not much striking to mention and water falls; steel and cement plants; about our mammals, our birds or our fis- and sulphur and iodine among our rare hes, but our Insects do show relations and productions. forms which are unique and sometimes In this rather unique strip of land, indeed extraordinary. priest, Abbot Juan facing the Ocean and backed up by mighty It was a Jesuit mountains, strive 12 million Chileans Ignacio Molina, who first referred to Chi- paper along with plants, animáis and Insects of lean Insects (**) in a pioneer course, that isolation has turned out into precise and defined races or relies which Botánica de Chile, 423 hardly find links or parentage any- (*) C. Reiche, Geografía where in South America or the Neotropics, págs., Santiago 1934. Entomology, except perhaps partly in South Argen- (**) R. Cortés, A glance at Chilean Washington, 45 (9): 226-232, 1943. tina. Proc. Ent. Soc. ! ! Rev. Chil. Ent. 8, 1974 published in Bologna, Ital'y, in 1782, called birds and rocks, thus hugely enlarging his "Essay on the Natural History of Chile", crop. He normally travelled in the back which makes him the first South Ameri- of a horse, carefully carrying in his own can born naturalist. This volume, origi- hands a Torricelli column of mercury to nally written in Italian but soon trans- check up pressures and altitudes. Several lated into most known languages including mules followed the party with the rest of Latin, deals with quite a good number of the luggage. our plants and animáis. Yet, striking Most of the material collected was then enough, he only describes seven species forwarded or taken to France where of Chilean Insects. well known authorities identified and Three are at least the outstanding described it. In the case of Insects, Solier merits in Molina's early work: first, he took the Coleóptera, Spinola cared of wrote it by heart and using fragmentary HjTnenoptera and Hemiptera, while Emile uncomplete notes, because he was exiled Blanchard treated the Díptera and a from his country and the rest of South bunch of small Orders. Many Chilean America with the Jesuit community by insects collected by Gay though, remained King Carlos III in 1767 when he was only undescribed at the París Museum and 27 years oíd.

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