Moths boring into Ficus syconia on Iriomote Island, south‐western Japan

Abstract

Herbivory in the syconia of six Ficus (Moraceae) species ( F. superba , F. varieagata , F. virgata , F. irisana , F. bengutensis and F. septica ) was examined in March 2002 on Iriomote Island, south-western Japan. Larvae of two lepidopteran species, Pachybotys spissalis (Guenée) (Pyralidae: Pyraustinae) and Stathmopoda sp. (Stathmopodidae) were observed to bore into the Ficus syconia. The attack rate by the moths varied from 0 to 38.5% across Ficus trees. The interiors of the syconia were heavily grazed by the moth larvae. Because figs (syconia) can be regarded as galls and seeds, according to sex and developmental stage, the moth larvae could be considered as gall or seed herbivores, and predators of fig wasps. Moth attack in the Ficus syconia could cause the destruction of fig wasp populations, as fig wasps develop in the syconia.

Two levels of host-specificity in a fig-associatedCaenorhabditis

“…The [62]. Figs are also a key resource for over a thousand bird and mammal species, who in turn aid in seed dispersal [63].…”

Insects associated with syconia of Ficus citrifolia (Moraceae) in central Brazil

“…As in other sites, the fig species studied here also presented a diverse interaction with different insect species (Bronstein 1988a, b;Frank & Thomas 1996;West et al 1996;Pereira et al 2000;Schiffler 2002;Sugiura & Yamazaki 2004;Nazareno et al 2007). In urban areas in the cities of Campinas (22°54'S, 47°03'W) and Londrina (23°18'S, 51°09'W) syconia of F. citrifolia presented 15 species of insects in five crops and 14 species in eight crops, respectively (Pereira 1998).…”

“…In the ovaries in which pollen was deposited, seed development occurs, while in the ovaries where the eggs were deposited larvae developed (Weiblen 2002). The fig syconia are also exploited by different groups of organisms that are non-pollinators, such as wasp species of the families Pteromalidae, Torymidae and Eurytomidae (Boucek 1993;Weiblen 2002), since they deposit their eggs from the outside, and other arthropods such as beetles and butterfly larvae, mites and drosophilid flies (Lachaise et al 1982;Bronstein 1988a;Frank & Thomas 1996;Pereira et al 2000;Schifler 2002;Sugiura & Yamazaki 2004).…”

Sistemática e biogeografia de besouros curculionídeos (Curculionoidea; Coleoptera) associados a figueiras (<i>Ficus</i>; Moracae)

“…(Cook & Rasplus, 2003) has been repeatedly used as models to study mutualism and coevolution (Weiblen, 2002;Cook & Rasplus, 2003;Cook & Segar, 2010;Cruaud et al, 2011Cruaud et al, , 2012, insects as flies (Lachaise et al, 1982;Compton & Disney, 1991), moths (Sugiura & Yamazaki, 2004), bugs (Slater, 1972) and beetles (Paarmann et al, 2001;Frank & Nadel, 2012) are examples of figassociated-insects described in relatively few studies, generally in a preliminary form.…”

“…The intricate relationship between fig trees, pollinating wasps and nonpollinating-wasps have been largely scrutinized, showing that the syconium has a long history of diversification with an extremely diverse and specialized community of wasps (Kerdelhué et al, 2000;Jousselin et al, 2003;Weiblen, 2004;Cook & Segar, 2010;Cruaud et al, 2011). (Lachaise et al, 1982;Compton & Disney, 1991), moths (Sugiura & Yamazaki, 2004), bugs (Slater, 1972) and beetles (Paarmann et al, 2001;Frank & Nadel, 2012) can be listed among them.…”