We inventoried and characterized the kinds of gall, gall-inducing insects and host plants from Serra Geral between August 2013 and July 2014. Two phytophysiognomies, cerrado sensu stricto and caatinga-cerrado, were examined monthly along transects during ca. 4 hours per visit, totaling 48 hours of sampling effort. A total of 49 gall morphotypes were found on 14 species of host plants in 18 genera and 13 families. Fabaceae and Malpighiaceae were the families with the most galls, with 22 and 10 gall morphotypes, respectively. The genera of host plant with the greatest richness of galls were Copaifera L. (n ¼ 10), Bauhinia Benth. (n ¼ 6), and Mimosa L. (n ¼ 5). Galls were found on leaves, buds and stems. The majority of the galls were globoid, glabrous, isolated, and one-chambered. The inducers belong to Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) being the most frequent and diverse gall-inducers. The associated fauna included parasitoids (Hymenoptera), successors (Formicidae), and predators (Pseudoscorpiones), obtained from 13, 2, and 1 gall morphotypes, respectively. Five plant taxa are recorded as hosts of gall-inducing insects for the first time.

The caatinga-cerrado transition environments in Caetité, state of Bahia, Brazil, were investigated in order to contribute to the knowledge of the host plants and galling insects. Forty-three gall morphotypes were found, in 17 plant families. Leguminosae and Myrtaceae were the families with the greatest richness of galls, with 15 and five morphotypes, respectively. Galls occurred mainly on leaves (70%), and were predominantly globoid (58%), isolated (67.44%), unilocular (82.6%) and green (51%). Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) was the main gall inducing family. The fauna associated with the galls comprised parasitoids, inquilines, successors and predators. We recorded for the first time pseudoscorpions in galls of Myrcia tomentosa.

RESUMO O conhecimento sobre galhas de insetos da Caatinga ainda é fragmentado, com grande parte do esforço científico concentrado em alguns poucos pontos nos estados de Pernambuco e Bahia. Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar a ocorrência de galhas entomógenas e realizar sua caracterização morfológica em áreas de Caatinga de Ibiassucê, Estado da Bahia, com diferentes intensidades de ação antrópica. Foram selecionadas três áreas com base nos seus diferentes graus de antropização. Em cada área amostrada foram estabelecidas quatro parcelas aleatórias de 10 m2 cada, com 10 m de distância entre si, perfazendo um total de 12 parcelas nos ambientes. Foram registrados 20 morfotipos de galhas distribuídos em nove espécies vegetais pertencentes a oito famílias. A maior riqueza de galhas foi encontrada nas áreas intermediárias (n=8), seguida das áreas antropizadas (n=7) e preservadas (n=5). Galhas globoides, marrons, com apenas uma câmara, glabras e disseminadas separadamente foram as mais frequentes. Lepidoptera, Coleoptera e Diptera (Cecidomyiidae) foram as ordens galhadoras. Os resultados aqui apresentados demonstram a importância desse tipo estudo e evidenciam a necessidade da realização de inventários de galhas em áreas pouco ou não amostradas da Caatinga.

We surveyed insect galls in an area of Cerrado sensu stricto and Gallery forest in the municipality of Caetité (BA) to contribute to current knowledge of the local flora and its associated gall-inducing insects. Monthly collections were made between February/2015 and January/2016, totaling 12 field campaigns (involving two or three people and lasting four hours) that followed an established path through the countryside. A total of 63 gall morphotypes were identified on 47 host plant species belonging to 22 families; 17 morphotypes were found in the Gallery forest and 46 in Cerrado vegetation. The plant families showing the greatest gall richness were Leguminosae (n=15), Myrtaceae (n=9), and Asteraceae (n=7). The species with the greatest number of galls was Mimosa gemmulata Barneby (Leguminosae) (n=3). Most galls were observed on leaves (66%) and stems (24%); they were mostly green (49.3%) or brown (26%), with globoid shapes (39.7%) or marginal roll (17.4%), and were unilocular (87%), glabrous (62%) and isolated (89%). Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) were the principal gall-inducing insects. The associated fauna was principally composed of Hymenoptera. Eight plant taxa were recorded for the first time as hosts of galling fauna.