Morphology and anatomy of a leaf mine in Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Choisy (Clusiaceae) in a fragment of Brazilian Atlantic forest

Abstract

Mines or hyponomes are channels caused by larva miners consuming internal plant tissues. these miners live on the leaf and feed from these tissues. leaf mines are usually visible on the exterior of the leaf as serpentine paths, blotches, or other characteristic shapes of discolored tissues. Morphological and structural modifications undergone by mined leaves of Vismia guianensis (aubl.) Choisy are presented here with the purpose of elucidating their structure and to contribute to studies about insect-plant interactions. healthy and mined leaves were harvested from thirty plants and taken to the laboratory. for each branch, the total number of young and mature leaves, the number of leaves with mines and the number of mine per leaf were counted. transverse sections of healthy and mined leaves were obtained to observe the morpho-anatomic aspects. from the 1,438 mature leaves and 379 young leaves analyzed, 214 (14.9%) and 70 (18.5%) were mined, where most of the leaves (67%) presented one mine per leaf. transverse sections of the mine revealed that the larva consumed only mesophyll parenchyma tissue and the epidermis remains intact. there is not a pattern of leaf mining, but the larvae did not consume the druses observed on mesophyll and the vascular tissues of the mid-vein and lateral vein.Keywords: plant anatomy, hyponomes, leaf mine, plant-herbivores interactions, Clusiaceae. RESUMO Morfologia e anatomia da mina foliar de Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Choisy (Clusiaceae) ocorrente em um fragmento de floresta Atlântica brasileiraMinas ou hiponomas são canais causados pelo consumo de tecidos internos da planta por larvas minadoras que habitam na folha e se alimentam desses tecidos. Minas em folhas são freqüentemente visíveis na folha em forma de serpentina, manchas ou outras formas características de tecido descolorido. Modificações morfológicas e anatômicas causadas por minadores em folhas de Vismia guianensis (aubl.) Choisy são apresentadas neste trabalho, com o objetivo de elucidar a sua estrutura e contribuir com os estudos sobre interação inseto-planta. folhas sadias e minadas de trinta indivíduos foram coletadas e levadas ao laboratório. para cada ramo coletado foram mensurados o número total de folhas jovens e maduras, o número de folhas minadas e o número de minas por folha. secções transversais de folhas sadias e minadas foram obtidas para observar aspectos morfo-anatômicos. das 1.438 folhas maduras e 379 folhas jovens analisadas, 214 (14,9%) e 70 (18,5%) estavam minadas e muitas dessas folhas (67%) apresentavam uma única mina. secções transversais das folhas minadas revelaram que a larva consome apenas tecido parenquimático do mesofilo e a epiderme permanece intacta. não foi observado um padrão das minas 760 alMeida-Cortez, J. s. and Melo-de-pinna, g. f. a.

Morphology and anatomy of leaf miners in two species of Commelinaceae (Commelina diffusa Burm. f. and Floscopa glabrata (Kunth) Hassk)

“…In conclusion, the results reported in this paper indicate that the mines in both the species analyzed are linear, form real serpentines by consumption of parenchyma tissues of mesophyll, as stated in the literature (Mani 1964;Melo-de-Pinna et al 2002;Almeida-Cortez & Melo-de-Pinna 2006). Low larval mobility, associated with high miner visibility, makes the larva susceptible to parasitoids.…”

“…11 and 13) and Commelina diffusa (Figs. 12 and 14) were observed that the mine is formed by consumption of parenchyma tissues of mesophyll, and, during tunnel formation, the miner consumes both palisade and spongy parenchyma; on the other hand, the epidermis and vascular tissue remain intact .This is independent of miner or plant groups, and the epidermis is considered by some authors as a physical protection for the larvae (Hering 1951;Melo-dePinna et al 2002;Almeida-Cortez & Melo-de-Pinna 2006). Weis & Berenbaum (1989) reported that miners do not form new tissues and this is the difference between the two types of endophytofagous (miner insects and insects that form galls).…”

“…Among the current plant species, there are many reports on miners in a large number of families including Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Clusiaceae, Commelinaceae, Convolvulaceae, Dipsacaceae, Lamiaceae, Mytaceae, Poaceae, Rubiaceae, and Rutaceae (Hering 1951;Melo-de-Pinna et al 2002;Almeida-Cortez & Melo-de-Pinna 2006;Santos et al 2006). Santos et al (2006) recently showed the occurrence of dipteran miners in Commelinaceae and fi ve more families of angiosperms, and Commelina diffusa was the only representative of Commelinaceae.…”

Hypermetamorphosis in a leaf-miner allows insects to cope with a confined nutritional space

“…A preference for mesophyll tissues is a common feature in many other leaf-miners (e.g. Sehgal and Trehan 1963;Tauber and Tauber 1968;Sehgal 1971;De Clerck and Shorthouse 1985;Kato 1998;Almeida-Cortez and Melo De Pinna 2006). Several studies have related this behaviour to higher nitrogen or protein content and/or higher water content of the mesophyll (Kimmerer and Potter 1987;Trier and Mattson 1997).…”

Leaf mines as visual defensive signals to herbivores

“…Leafminers construct distinct leaf mines, most of which are quite conspicuous. For example, linear, serpentine, digitate, blotch and tentiform mines can be found on various types of plant leaves (Hering 1951, Kato 1984, Queiroz 2002, Sugiura and Yamazaki 2003, Almeida‐Cortez and Melo‐de‐Pinna 2006, Ayabe et al 2008, Yamazaki and Sugiura 2008; Fig. 1a–d).…”