A Systematic Review on Opuntia (Cactaceae; Opuntioideae) Flower-Visiting Insects in the World with Emphasis on Mexico: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

Opuntia spp. are cacti with high ecological, economic and conservation interest in semiarid environments, particularly in Mexico. We conducted a systematic search of the existing peer-reviewed literature about the state of knowledge of pollination ecology on these plants. We documented the most studied Opuntia species worldwide with an emphasis on Mexico. We found that only 15% of Opuntia species described have been investigated so far, and studies were mainly focused on comprehension of the biology of a single species. Despite the economic and cultural importance of Opuntia, there is a significant lack of knowledge about the flower-visiting insects and their taxonomic identity. We provide a checklist of the insect species associated with Opuntia spp. Through a circular network, we visualize the complex Opuntia flower-visiting insect relationship, and we detected a set of key species constituting the generalist core of the networks constructed. Since pollination is crucial for crop production, a better understanding of ecological interactions would inform management measures to strengthen biodiversity and agriculture sustainability as well as productivity in arid and marginal lands. Further research on pollination ecology is needed to improve the conservation status of the insects associated with Opuntia species.

A review of the entomofauna associated with decaying cacti in New World deserts

“…On the other hand, some Opuntia spp. have not been evaluated in depth to know the conservation status of their populations in the wild, in spite of the economic importance of the genus in Mexico (Tenorio-Escandón et al 2022). The conservation status of several species is still uncertain regarding the degree of threat in the wild; few studies have been made about their population ecology across their distributions and there is no knowledge about the decomposition processes of any of these cactus species or the role of the entomofauna in these processes.…”

“…The cacti thus act as islands or shelters, as has been shown for insects (Ramírez-Hernández et al 2021). Generally, those species interactions are crucial for the general maintenance of biotic communities of arid and semiarid ecosystems (Valiente-Banuet et al 2002, Tenorio-Escandón et al 2022).…”

Ants associated to prickly pear cactus crop in Texcoco, State of Mexico

“…Despite the economic importance of these plants, studies about associated insects with their crops are scarce, and limited to lists of local (Ruiz-Machuca et al, 2010;Vanegas-Rico et al, 2010;Rocha-Flores et al, 2017;Palemón-Alberto et al, 2022) or widely distributed pest in the continent (Mann, 1979); often excluding insect fauna, considered less significant in the productive chain of the cacti. Other research includes insects like ants as occasional extra nectaries visitors with botanical structures emphasis (Silva et al, 2020) or conservation proposes (Novoa et al, 2003;Caballero et al, 2013;Rafael-Valdez et al, 2017Guerra et al, 2022Tenorio-Escandón et al, 2022).…”

Variability in mating strategies in a widespread cactus in the Chihuahuan Desert

“…Within Cactaceae, Opuntia stands out as the most successful and widespread genus, whose species combine clonality with diverse sexual reproductive systems that confer them high reproductive and dispersal capacities (Reyes‐Agüero et al 2006, Mandujano et al 2010). Despite their reproductive versatility, only 15% of the Opuntia species have studies regarding their reproductive biology (Tenorio‐Escandón et al 2022), most of them based on the sampling of only one population per species.…”