Mycophagous Drosophilidae (Diptera) guild and their hosts in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The composition and potential hosts of mycophagous Drosophilidae from a section of the Brazilian Amazon forest in the Caxiuanã National forest were investigated. Sampling was performed in three different periods at long the wet season (January (beginning) and July (end) 2013 and May (middle) 2014). The samples were collected from existing trails by actively searching for fungal fruiting bodies where Drosophilidae were present. We present composition and richness analysis over two years of sampling sampling Drosophilidae and Fungi. We evaluate sampling completeness using asymptotic species richness estimators. Out of 159 fruiting body samples and 64 fungal species, 5,124 drosophilids belonging to 55 species and 5 genera were collected. The mycophagous Drosophilidae richness values estimated by Jackknife 1 and Bootstrap were 69 and 61, respectively. The estimated fly richness correlated positively with fungal richness and abundance. Among the Drosophilidae species identified in this study, approximately 5% represent new occurrences for Brazil and 56% represent new species. Four genera belonging to the Zygothrica genus group are found in the Amazon region, and these genera represent 80% of the fungus-associated fauna known to date for the tropics. In conclusion, our results show that the fungal richness and abundance were the factors that determined the high diversity of mycophagous Drosophilidae.

Exceptional Species Diversity of Drosophilidae (Diptera) in a Neotropical Forest

“…8): The data from Zurquí have been combined in the histogram for five genera: Hirtodrosophila (176 world species, 28 Neotropical, 12 at Zurquí), Mycodrosophila (132 world, 12 Neotropical, one at Zurquí), Paraliodrosophila (five species, all Neotropical, two at Zurquí), Paramycodrosophila (16 world species, four Neotropical, six at Zurquí), and an undescribed genus, "X, " which is being described in a separate paper (Grimaldi et al, in prep.). These form a well-defined monophyletic group (Grimaldi, 1990a(Grimaldi, , 1990bFinet et al, 2021), which feed, mate, and breed in macrofungi (Grimaldi, 1987;Valer et al, 2016;Policha et al, 2019;Santa-Brígida et al, 2019). The Zurquí sample is rather modest (147 specimens, belonging to 26 species total).…”

“…Adult Zygothrica are usually found in large aggregations on forest mushrooms, where they graze, court and mate. Some species breed in the mushrooms (Grimaldi, 1987;Valer et al, 2016;Policha et al, 2019); other species (even ones congregating at fungi) breed in flowers (Grimaldi, 1987;Santa-Brígida et al, 2019;dos Santos and Vilela, 2005;Vaz et al, 2014). The attraction of Zygothrica to mushrooms is exploited by some pleurothalidiine orchids such as the genus Dracula, which lure the flies to the orchid's labellum, which looks and smells like a small mushroom (Endara et al, 2010;Policha et al, 2016Policha et al, , 2019.…”