Feeding preference of the shredder Phylloicus sp. for plant leaves of Chrysophyllum oliviforme or Miconia chartacea after conditioning in streams from different biomes

Abstract

Macroinvertebrate shredders consume preferably leaves conditioned by fungi and bacteria which offer greater palatability to them. Plant species in Cerrado present high concentration of chemical elements such as lignin and cellulose, phenols and tanins thus making them less attractive for shredders consumption and limiting the palatability. This study aimed to evaluate the feeding preference of a macroinvertebrate shredder of the genus Phylloicus for plant material from two different biomes (Cerrado and Mata Atlântica), after conditioning in a stream of Mata Atlântica and observing their physical and chemical characteristics. Senescent leaves were collected, monthly from the litterfall of riparian vegetation in a 500 m stretch of a stream in each biome from August 2014 to January 201. The most abundant species in each stream was selected for the experiment. The experimental design consisted in with two treatments. The first (T1) comprised leaf discs from Chrysophyllum oliviforme (Cerrado species) together with leaf discs of Miconia chartacea (Atlantic Forest species) which were conditioned in the Atlantic Forest stream. The second treatment (T2) involved leaf discs of Miconia chartacea conditioned in Mata Altlântica and Cerrado streams. Both tests had showed significant differences between the two treatments (T1 and T2). For T1, there was consumption of M. chartacea leaf discs by Phylloicus sp., but there was no consumption of C. oliviforme discs. For T2, there was preference for M. chartaceae leaves conditioned in a stream of Mata Atlântica than in Cerrado stream. The results showed that Phylloicus sp., had presented preference for food detritus of the Mata Antlântica biome and rejection to the one from Cerrado biome.

No Difference in Instream Decomposition Among Upland Agricultural and Forested Streams in Kenya

“…Vernonia, which was considered to be of the highest quality and palatability among the three species of leaves, recorded the highest decomposition rate across agricultural and forested sites in both coarse-and fine-mesh litterbags. Syzygium and the nonnative Eucalyptus are tougher; both belong to the family Myrtaceae, and have been reported to have higher levels of tannins and secondary compounds, which reduce palatability for shredders (Gonçalves et al, 2006;Reis et al, 2018). In a similar study, decomposition rates in Syzygium cordatum and Eucalyptus globulus leaves were much lower than in Neoboutonia macrocalyx, an indigenous soft-leafed riparian species, in which shredder-mediated breakdown was also higher (Masese, et al, 2014b).…”

Cultivable cellulolytic fungi isolated from the gut of Amazonian aquatic insects

“…Gonçalves-Júnior et al (2017) compared the characteristics of five common leaves found in streams in the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve and noted that shredder insects were more frequent on the leaves of Mabea speciosa Müll.Arg (Euphorbiaceae), which had a higher polyphenol content, lower amount of cellulose and higher concentration of fungal biomass than the leaves of the other plants. These results indicate that aquatic shredder insect larvae feed on leaves conditioned by fungi, which initiate the decomposition process through extracellular enzymes, facilitating digestion by the larvae (Graça et al 2001;Aßmann et al 2011;Casotti et al 2015;Biasi et al 2017;Reis et al 2018).…”

“…Graça et al (2001) demonstrated experimentally that insects preferred conditioned leaves over unconditioned leaves. Likewise, Reis et al (2018) showed that high concentrations of tannins in unconditioned leaves are inhibitory and not consumed by Table 2. Cellulolytic filamentous fungi isolated from the guts of Phylloicus (Trichoptera), Triplectides (Trichoptera) and Stenochironomus (Diptera) shredder aquatic insects, in the central Amazon region of Brazil.…”

“…Our results suggest that the mycobiota of aquatic shredder insect guts isolated in this study can effectively degrade cellulose. The presence of cellulolytic fungi is probably related to the conditioning of ingested leaf material through the decomposition of structural compounds by fungal enzymes, which softens the material and increases the palatability of the leaves (Graça et al 2001;Aßmann et al 2011;Casotti et al 2015;Biasi et al 2017;Reis et al 2018). Graça et al (2001) demonstrated experimentally that insects preferred conditioned leaves over unconditioned leaves.…”

Preferencias alimentarias de Phylloicus sp. (Trichoptera: Calamoceratidae) en un río Neotropical de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

“…consumen mayormente las hojas que contienen un menor porcentaje de compuestos refractarios y secundarios, independientemente de temperatura. Reis et al (2019) compararon la preferencia de Phylloicus sp. con hojas de dos biomas distintos y encontraron que este fragmentador utilizó las hojas provenientes de la Mata Atlántica pero no las del Cerrado, las cuales son más ricas en compuestos como lignina, celulosa, fenoles y taninos que las hacen menos atractivas para los invertebrados.…”