Insects Associated with Seeds of Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus Hassl. (Fabaceae) in Tres Barras, Parana, Brazil

Abstract

-To find the insects associated with seeds of a Brazilian native leguminous plant, Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus Hassl., fruits were collected from isolated trees in Tres Barras, Parana, Brazil. A sample of 500 g of fruits with 2353 seeds was evaluated in the laboratory. It was found that 77.4% of the seeds were not damaged by insects, 12.4% of the seeds were damaged and 10.2% of the seeds were empty. The bruchid species Ctenocolum crotonae (Fåhraeus) was detected for the first time in this plant. This species was recorded in Mato Grosso, Brazil and, in this paper, the geographical distribution is amplified to include Parana State. Horismenus missouriensis Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was also observed in the sample and it is probably a parasitoid of the bruchid larva or pupa. Of the 2353 seeds, 4.9% were damaged by C. crotonae and 4.6% had emergence holes of H. missouriensis. Larvae of Tenebrionidae and Curculionidae were also detected feeding on the seeds, representing 2.8% of the total number of the seeds.

Germinação de sementes de três espécies de Fabaceae típicas de floresta estacional decidual

“…O ataque de insetos aos propágulos das espécies da família Fabaceae é comum em ambiente natural e diminui a chance da semente germinar (Janzen, 1971;Sari et al, 2002). Embora algumas sementes atacadas tenham germinado, os insetos encontrados parecem ser efetivos predadores das sementes de B. cheilantha e A. polyphylla, e não agentes escarificadores para proporcionar melhor germinação.…”

“…Os frutos e as sementes representam uma potencial fonte de energia e alimento para os herbívoros (Hulme, 1998) e são utilizados no ciclo de desenvolvimento de vários insetos (Janzen, 1971;1975). Comumente, Bruchidae são encontrados predando sementes de Fabaceae e, associado a eles, grandes populações de parasitas (Janzen, 1971;Sari et al, 2002). Os Braconidae são parasitas que em seus estados larvais desenvolvem sobre ou dentro de outros insetos não adultos, geralmente Coleoptera (como o Bruchidae encontrado), Lepidoptera, Diptera e Hemíptera (Borror & Delong, 1969).…”

Predispersal infestation of Vochysia haenkeana seeds by Lius conicus

“…Intensity of predispersal and post-dispersal infestation by several predators contributes significantly to seed mortality, affecting the distribution of several forest species (ZHANG et al, 1997;SANTOS et al, 2001). Some studies show that the fruits and/or seeds of a great number of economically or ecologically valuable native tree species are regularly damaged by different groups of insects (HULME & BORELLI, 1999;SANTOS et al, 2001;SARI et al, 2002;MEIADO et al, 2013), many of which are strikingly preyspecific (JANZEN, 1980). Predispersal predation by insects may cause mortality in up to 80% of the seeds produced in many grassland and forest habitats (ANDERSEN, 1988).…”

“…According to SANTOS et al (1997) and LOUREIRO et al (2004), the most frequent seed damaging insects of native forest species, especially Fabaceae, are Coleoptera belonging to Bruchidae, Anthribidae, Curculionidae and Cerambycidae, Diptera of the Tephritidae family and Lepidoptera of Pyralidae family. In addition to these, SARI et al (2002) mentioned Tenebrionidae and Hymenoptera species as possible causing agents of damages in seeds of native Brazilian trees.…”

The potential of native parasitoids for the control of Mexican bean beetles: A genetic and ecological approach

“…and found in storage conditions (Hansson et al, 2004). It appears to be a generalist and has been reared from 15 genera of bruchid hosts on 38 genera of host-plants (mostly in the family Leguminosae), collected in the field (Hetz and Johnson, 1988;Sari et al, 2002). In contrast H. depressus, besides being found in seeds of P. vulgaris and P. lunatus parasitizing bruchids in the genera Acanthoscelides and Zabrotes has only been reported on two other legumes, Acacia (Burks, 1971) and Olneya (Gahan, 1930).…”