Documented patterns of specialization and species interactions often omit plasticity in resource use across space and time, yet such variation is an important part of species interactions. To examine temporal variation in resource use, we compared species‐ and community‐level patterns of host plant use by folivorous caterpillars between the dry and rainy seasons in four preserved areas of cerrado vegetation in the Distrito Federal, Brazil. We sampled plants and caterpillars in 10 m circular plots monthly from March 2010 to March 2011. At the community level, we found a significant increase in the mean diet breadth of dry season caterpillars relative to those collected in the rainy season. Families and species of moths varied in diet breadth, but most exhibited a seasonal expansion. In particular, intraspecific comparisons showed a 30% increase in the number of host plants used in the dry season compared to the rainy season. These results provide a clear example of how temporal variation in resource use is heterogeneous, and more generalized patterns of resource use can emerge from studies at large temporal scales. Thus, seasonal or annual heterogeneity may obscure ecologically relevant specialized interactions that occur at smaller scales.
Folivore cerrado caterpillars are found on their host species in low frequencies, which vary between plants and throughout the year. We analysed the effects of climatic variation and of the characteristics of two host species (Miconia, Melastomataceae) on caterpillar abundance. The work was carried out in a cerrado sensu stricto area in Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, from May 1998 to September 1999. One hundred plants of each species were inspected monthly. All caterpillars found were collected and raised in the laboratory with Miconia leaves as food sources. Climatic data for the study area and plant characteristics such as local density, spatial distribution, foliar phenology, leaf pilosity and nutritional content were used to test the effects on caterpillar abundance. Less than 10% of the plants had larvae. Caterpillars were more frequent and abundant in M. pohliana, which was also present at higher densities than M. ferruginata. Low caterpillar frequency in host plants and an abundance peak during the dry season are consistent patterns for different cerrado Lepidoptera larvae. This abundance peak, however, is not coincident with higher leaf production in host species. We suggest that M. pohliana's higher local density and better leaf digestibility can account for the higher abundance of caterpillars in this species.Keywords: cerrado, foliar nutritional content, host plant, leaf phenology, leaf pilosity Efeitos do clima e das características das plantas hospedeiras na abundância de lagartas de Lepidoptera em Miconia ferruginata e Miconia pohliana ResumoNo cerrado, as lagartas de Lepidoptera, folívoras externas, são encontradas em baixas frequências e variam entre plantas e ao longo do ano. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os efeitos das variações climáticas e das característi-cas das plantas (Miconia, Melastomataceae) na abundância das lagartas. O estudo foi feito no cerrado sensu stricto, Brasília, DF, de maio de 1998 a setembro de 1999. Mensalmente, 100 plantas de cada espécie foram vistoriadas. Todas as lagartas foram coletadas e criadas. Foram correlacionados com os resultados obtidos da abundância de lagartas, os dados climáticos e as seguintes características das plantas: densidade local, distribuição espacial, fenologia, pilosidade e conteúdo nutricional foliar. Menos de 10% das plantas tinham lagartas. As lagartas foram mais frequentes e abundantes em M. pohliana que também foi a espécie de planta com maior densidade na área. A frequência baixa de lagartas em plantas do cerrado é um padrão bastante consistente, assim como o pico de abundância desses imaturos na estação seca. Entretanto, esse pico de abundância não coincide com a produção de folhas em nenhuma das espécies de plantas. A maior densidade local e digestibilidade das folhas de M. pohliana são os fatores que mais explicam a abundância de lagartas nessa espécie.Palavras-chave: cerrado, conteúdo nutricional foliar, fenologia foliar, pilosidade foliar, planta hospedeira. BIOLOGYScherrer, S., Diniz, IR. and Morais, HC.
β diversity of herbivorous insects in the tropics is usually very high, and there is often strong dissimilarity in herbivore species composition across different spatial scales and different abiotic gradients. Similarly, turnover is high for trophic interactions between herbivorous insects and their host plants. Two factors have been proposed to explain temporal or spatial differences in trophic interactions: changes in species composition and temporal changes in the behavior of shared species. The goal of this study was to evaluate determinants of high β diversity of trophic interactions between lepidopteran caterpillars and their host plants across dry and rainy seasons and their transitions. Over the course of a year, interaction diversity data were collected from 275 temporary plots in Cerrado vegetation, comprising 257 species of caterpillars, 137 species of host plants and 503 different trophic interactions. All these diversity parameters varied across seasons. Species assemblages of caterpillars and plants were different among the four seasons, and there was a high turnover of interactions between the seasons. The high temporal β diversity of trophic interactions was mostly due to interaction rewiring between co-occurring species, as opposed to changes in species composition over time.
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