Richness of hymenopterous galls from South America

Abstract

An overview of hymenopterous galls from South America is presented here based on literature as well as on data from the insect gall collection of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ. Seventy-three galls have been recorded on 71 host plants. Myrtaceae and Fabaceae are the plant families with the greatest number of galled species and gall morphotypes. Gall richness per plant species varied from one to two. The stem and bud were the most galled plant organs. The gallers comprise eight hymenopteran families, the best-represented being Eulophidae, Eurytomidae, and Cynipidae. Geographic records are restricted to six countries, and the majority is from Brazil.

From leaves to inflorescences: Gall induction of Iatrophobia brasiliensis Rübsaamen, 1915 on inflorescences of Manihot caerulescens Pohl (Euphorbiaceae) during the dry season

“…According to Mani (1964), nearly 70% of Neotropical galls have preference for leaves, which is similar to other studies, dealing with Iatrophobia galls (Carneiro et al, 2009b;Saito and Urso-Guimarães, 2012;Scareli-Santos et al, 2018). Here, the stem-inducing insects belonged to the order Lepidoptera (Alucitidae), a result also found by Brito et al (2018) and Maia (2006).…”

Phenotypic plasticity and similarity among gall morphotypes on a superhost, Baccharis reticularia (Asteraceae)

“…As adult gall inducers were not observed, and their identification to species level was not possible, so the widely accepted concept of gall morphotypes was used (Maia & Fernandes 2004;Maia et al 2008;Carneiro et al 2009;Maia & Oliveira 2010;Santos et al 2011aSantos et al ,b, 2012Maia 2012;Malves & FrieiroCosta 2012, as it has been extensively used in inventories of gall diversity and richness in the Neotropics. Also, through gall dissection in the laboratory, the two leaf galls were associated with two distinct sap-sucking nymphs, and each of the two stem galls was associated with larva or pupa of a Lepidopteran or a Cecidomyiidae.…”