Host specificity and association of Cerambycidae with the physical characteristics of the wood of trees in a tropical dry forest

Abstract

Few studies test the host specificity of tropical dry forest cerambycids, in this study, we examined the host preferences of the cerambycids of a tropical dry forest in central Mexico and the association of cerambycid richness and abundance with the physical characteristics of the wood of their host plants. Branch segments of 81 species of woody plants were cut and left exposed to allow cerambycids oviposition, and the branches were collected and placed in emergence chambers. We measured the density, decomposition rate, and volume of wood for each branch segment. Fifty‐seven species of cerambycids emerged. We categorized the cerambycids by the degree of host specificity: 23% were generalists, 14% were specialists, and for 63% of the data were insufficient to determine specificity. For the first time we report, for the tropical dry forest, preference patterns between Cerambycidae (subfamilies and species) and their host plants (families and species). Physical characteristics of wood, such as density and decomposition rate, were strongly related to the presence of cerambycids. Cerambycidae in this forest use wood resources that decompose at an intermediate rate and are relatively soft. The cerambycids were most often generalists, and specific cerambycid/tree species associations were rare, but close commensal relationships were found at the level of subfamilies and plant families. Cerambycid richness and abundance depend on the type of host, medium decomposed woods, and the great abundance of each individual host in the area.

Wood trait preferences of Neotropical xylophagous beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

“…Although wood moisture content is influenced by environmental conditions and soil water content, in both Amazonian tree species and temperate pines, denser wood has less moisture (Dias & Marenco, 2016; Eberhardt et al., 2017). Cerambycid host specify has also been shown to be influenced by wood density in tropical dry forests (Vargas‐Cardoso et al., 2023). Cerambycid genera also tend to prefer either dry or moist wood (Haack, 2017), and in some cases species select the upper or lower surfaces of a tree based on moisture content (Iwata et al., 2007).…”