Insect galls from the Botanical Garden of the Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)

Abstract

The Botanical Garden of the Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) was investigated monthly from October, 2017 to December, 2019 in a total of 27 collections, each lasting four hours, following the methodology of random walking. Vegetative and reproductive organs of herbs, bushes and trees (up to 2 m high) were examined by two people. Voucher material was deposited in the Entomological Collection of the Museu Nacional (MNRJ)/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. We found 13 insect gall morphotypes in nine host plant species of four families. All host plants are native of Brazil, except Ficus microcarpa L.f. (Moraceae), which is naturalized. Myrtaceae and Moraceae were the plant families with the greatest richness of gall morphotypes. Eugenia L. (Myrtaceae) and Ficus L. (Moraceae) were the plant genera with the highest number of gall morphotypes. In several inventories in the Atlantic forest, Myrtaceae and Eugenia stand out for harboring a great variety of galls, while Moraceae and Ficus were never stood out for this reason. Most plant species mentioned in the present study were already known as hosts of gall-inducing insects in Brazil. However, for the first time, insect galls are reported on Ficus crocata (Miq.) Miq. (Moraceae). We found two new morphotypes on Eugenia florida DC. (Myrtaceae). Leaves, stems and buds were the galled organs. Cecidomyiidae were the most frequent inducers. Galls of Thysanoptera were also found. Inquilines were observed in leaf galls on Eugenia florida. They promoted differences in gall morphology and killed the gall-inducing larva.