Gall‐inducing insects exhibit elevated levels of oviposition and host specificity. An interesting pattern within the interaction between gall‐inducing insects and host plants is the fact that some species of plants, called super‐hosts, harbour several species of gall‐inducing insects. However, little is known about the mechanisms influencing the coexistence of gall‐inducing insects in super‐host plants. Here, we tested the mechanisms that allow the coexistence of multiple gall‐inducing insects associated with Copaifera langsdorffii Desf., a super‐host tropical tree. Specifically, we tested three non‐exclusive hypotheses: (i) Spatial niche partitioning: gall‐inducing species will inhabit distinct organs in the same plant; (ii) temporal niche partitioning: gall‐inducing insects occupy the host plant in different months, and (iii) local‐regional relationship: regional richness will be high, while local richness will be low, indicating high turnover (i.e. β‐diversity) of insects among individuals of the super‐host plant. We found no evidence that gall‐inducing insects are inhabiting distinct organs in the same host plant or that they are occurring in different vertical or horizontal strata. Furthermore, the incidence of other gall‐inducing insects has little effect on whether a given focal species is also found in the host plant. In contrast, gall‐inducing insects showed temporal resource partitioning with species occurring in two different periods. We also found a low α‐diversity with individuals of C. langisdorffii harbouring different gall species composition. Our results show that the temporal resource partitioning and the high β‐diversity among host plants are the main factors explaining the high number of gall‐inducing insects associated with C. langisdorffii.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.