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The
Careini, apart from Maurilia Möschler, are one of the most
strongly supported tribes of
the Chloephorinae. Tymbal organs (Holloway, 1998, figs 13-19; Figs 228, 230-239)
are present on the basal sternite of the males, but they are distinctly
triangular, set rather obliquely and well separated, the carinae being more
longitudinal in orientation rather than transverse as in the Sarrothripinae and
Ariolicini. The tymbals are also strongly associated with the apodemes.
The
larvae are characterised by a ‘berry-like’ swelling of the thoracic segments,
and in having setal group SD1 on A8 set well above the spiracle, usually
vertically so. These features are seen also in some Ariolicini: Lasiolopha
Turner has a berry-like thorax, and Labanda Walker, Tathothripa
Hampson and Plagiograpta Hampson share the setal feature.
The venation is of the groundplan
type, but M1 in the forewing may be connate with the areole or may arise basally
from it. The hindwing is quadrifine, but M3 and CuA1 may be stalked; in
Aiteta
Walker they are connate with M2 and set, trident-like, at the strongly produced
posterior angle of the cell.
Another
feature that is found in all genera except Didigua Walker, Maurilia
and “Aiteta” deminutiva Warren is a modification to the
male hind-leg: the
tibia is
short and bears a hair-pencil that extends over a swollen and enlarged first
tarsal segment that bears 4-5 longitudinal rows of spines (Fig 229).
The male
abdomen also tends to have the apodemes of the eighth segment, especially of the
tergite, short and broad, often separated by a broad excavation. In the
genitalia there is typically some sort of gnathus or scaphial structure, usually
with a broad rhomboid plate distally. The ventral part or all of the tegumen is
usually distinctly expanded on each side and may have a complex articulation
with the vinculum, including some overlap. The valves are often paddle-like,
though sometimes elongate, and there is usually a subbasal process on the costa.
The blade of the paddle often has a mass of basally directed setae over its
inner surface around the margin, and the apex may be slightly bilobed, the
‘careine’ type of valve seen also in a group of the Ariolicini.
In the
female genitalia, the bursa usually has a single signum, often rather like a
golf tee, though this is modified in Aiteta.
Larval
features have already been mentioned. There is some host-plant specialisation,
with Aiteta on Terminalia (Combretaceae) and some concentration of
records for the Carea group of genera in the Myrtaceae (Robinson
et al., 2001).
The
tribe, with the exception of Maurilia and Aiteta, is restricted to
the Indo-Australian tropics, with the species-rich genera of the Carea
Walker group (Calymera
Moore, Xenochroa
Felder and Didigua
Walker) particularly diverse in Sundaland (Kobes, 1997). Only a few species,
mostly in Aiteta and
Chora Walker,
occur in Australia.
Bell (MS) stated that the larvae of the several Careini taxa he studied were
heavily parasitised by Hymenoptera and attacked by numerous predators.
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