Gall-inducing insects from Campos de Altitude, Brazil

Abstract

-inducing insects from Campos de Altitude, Brazil. Biota Neotrop. 13(4): http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v13n4/en/ abstract?article+bn02513042013Abstract: Gall-inducing insects are very specious in vegetations of southeastern Brazil. Our goal was describe the gall richness by characterizing their external forms and their patterns of occurrence on host plants. Samples were collected from Campos de Altitude at four regions of the Mantiqueira Range: 1) Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro, 2) Parque Nacional do Caparaó, 3) Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca, 4) Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. We found 93 gall species within 13 families, 30 genera and 50 host plant species. We recorded 38 gall species in Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro, 21 in Parque Nacional do Caparaó, 23 in Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca and 20 in Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. Asteraceae represented 33% of the species collected, followed by Melastomataceae at 17%; with each one concentrating 56% and 18% of the galling insects, respectively. 98% of galls were Cecydomiidae (Diptera). The most attacked organ was the stem (56%), followed by the leaf (23%). Only 12% of the galls described in our study had been already recorded in previous studies, thus reinforcing the need to increase the sampling effort toward a better understanding of the richness and the natural history of gall-inducing insects from Brazil. Resumo: Insetos indutores de galhas são muito ricos em espécies nas formações vegetais do sudeste do Brasil. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever a riqueza de morfotipos de galha por meio da caracterização de suas formas externas e os padrões de ocorrência nas plantas hospedeiras. As amostragens foram realizadas em campos rupestres e altitudinais de quatro regiões da Serra da Mantiqueira: 1) campos de altitude do Parque Estadual do Brigadeiro e 2) Parque Nacional do Caparaó, 3) Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca e Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. Foram registradas 93 espécies de galhas induzidas por insetos em 13 famílias, 30 gêneros e 50 espécies de plantas hospedeiras. Sendo 38 a riqueza de insetos indutores de galhas do Parque Estadual do Brigadeiro, 21 do Parque Nacional do Caparaó, 23 do Parque Nacional do Caparaó e 20 do Parque Nacional do Itatiaia. As famílias com maior riqueza foram Asteraceae (33%) e Melastomataceae (17%). A família Cecydomiidae (Diptera) foi a mais frequente (98%). O órgão mais atacado foi o caule (56%) seguido de folha (23%). O fato de apenas 12% das galhas descritas neste estudo já terem sido registradas em trabalhos anteriores, reforça a necessidade em aumentar o esforço amostral na direção de um maior conhecimento sobre a riqueza e história natural dos insetos indutores de galhas no Brasil. Palavras-chave: biodiversidade, biogeografia, herbivoria, planta hospedeira, altitude 140 Coelho, M.S. et al.

Insect Galls of the Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (Southeast Region, Brazil)

“…Among the endemic plant species, 27 have been recorded exclusively in the Atlantic forest and they hosted 39 gall morphotypes. Adding to the previous data, the number of native hosts rises to 167 (seven in Coelho et al 2013a andsix in Maia 2014) and the number of endemic plants to 63 (all in Coelho et al 2013a Only in the plateau 26…”

“…Other gall morphotypes were recorded in the PNI: 19 by Coelho et al 2013a, 38 by Maia 2014, both in the altitude fields, and two by Gagné et al 2001 (no data on phytophysiognomy). Among them, only four were found in the present study.…”

“…Although many inventories have been indicated a great richness of insect galls in the State of Rio de Janeiro (Maia 2013a), few gall morphotypes were recorded in the PNI (Gagné et al 2001, Coelho et al 2013a. Furthermore, most surveys in the Atlantic forest were developed in restinga environments .…”

Senescent stem-galls in trees of Eremanthus erythropappus as a resource for arboreal ants

“…In the Espinhaço and Mantiqueira mountains, E. erythropappus trees and their galls are found along altitudinal quotas lower down on the cerrado sensu stricto and continuing upwards to reach higher altitudes, occupying rocky outcrops and degraded areas of rupestrian fields (Carneiro et al 2009;Coelho et al 2013). Senescent galls can therefore represent an important -and even decisive -factor affecting the local species-mosaic of arboreal ants.…”

“…Furthermore, the presence of galleries and stem-galls within the twigs (created by borer and gall inducing insects) are an excellent advantage and help greatly in the construction of nests by arboreal ants (Fernandes et al 1988;Araújo et al 1995;Oliveira & Freitas 2004;Schoereder et al 2010). As in the cerrado, the high diversity of galls in other plant formations such as the Atlantic forest (Coelho et al 2013;Carneiro et al 2014) and dry forests (Coelho et al 2013) suggest that these galls can be widely used by ants in these environments. Therefore, the pre-formed cavities left behind by ecosystem engineers, such as galls, can act as an important resource which optimizes the efforts and the potential of local ant colonies, thus affecting the composition, richness and abundance of their population.…”