Breeding sites of Neotropical Drosophilidae (Diptera): IV. living and fallen flowers of Sessea brasiliensis and Cestrum spp. (Solanaceae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Breeding sites of Neotropical Drosophilidae (Diptera). IV. Living and fallen flowers of Sessea brasiliensis and Cestrum spp. (Solanaceae). The flowering phenologies of Sessea brasiliensis and three species of Cestrum (C. amictum, C. schlechtendalii and C. sendtnerianum), all belonging to the Solanaceae, were monitored in a fragment of the montane Atlantic rain forest within São Paulo city from July 1993 through June 1995. A total of 11,021 flies belonging to five species of the flavopilosa group of Drosophila (D. cestri, D. cordeiroi, D. hollisae, D. incompta and D. mariaehelenae), plus 1,244 flies belonging to four species of Zygothrica (Z. dispar, Z. vittimaculosa, Z. vittinubila and Z. aff. vittipunctata) emerged from 33,955 sampled flowers. Cestrum amictum, C. sendtnerianum and Sessea brasiliensis are recorded for the first time as host plants for the species of the Neotropical flavopilosa group of Drosophila. Additionally, at least ten less abundant taxa belonging also to the Drosophilidae, plus 1,073 microhymenopteran parasitoids (Braconidae, Eucoilidae, and Pteromalidae), emerged from the sampled flowers of S. brasiliensis e Cestrum spp. The present study raised from nine to eleven the number of species of Cestrum previously recorded as breeding sites for these flies. A comprehensive list of species of Solanaceae known to host six species of Drosophila and four species of Zygothrica in southeastern and southern Brazil is included. Many species of holometabolic insects use ephemeral resources (e.g. fungi, flowers, fruits, etc.) as sites for adult feeding and courting, and larval development. There is, however, variation in the degree of specificity in relation to their host plants. This variation might be related to diverse factors, such as predictability and availability of plant resources in time and space, the diversity of plant species within a community, and the spatial relationships and associations among individual plants (Cates 1980(Cates , 1981Vasconcellos-Neto 1991).Some species of insect that use ephemeral resources, however, have become highly specialized. Those using one or a few species of plants belonging to the same family are considered monophagous, whereas those breeding from a wide Breeding sites of Neotropical Drosophilidae (Diptera). IV. Living and fallen flowers of Sessea brasiliensis and Cestrum spp. (Solanaceae)

Developmental Sites of Neotropical Drosophilidae (Diptera): V. Inflorescences of Calathea Cylindrica andCalathea monophylla(Zingiberales: Marantaceae)

“…Unfortunately, part of the anterior region of the aedeagal apódeme was accidentally cut and lost during dissection, thus not showing its complete extension well beyond the anterior margin of hypandrium, which, as stated by Grimaldi (1987), has an important diagnostic feature. Santos and Vilela (2005) reared this species from a fallen fiower of Cestrum amictum Schlechtendal (Solanaceae) and, based on this observation and the literature, they wrote that Z. dispar "seems to be an opportunistic, polyphagous and ground-feeding species that could oviposit in any decaying flower. Like most, if not all, of its congeners, Z. dispar is often seen in relatively large numbers over fleshy fungi.…”

“…This article is the fifth of a series (Vilela and Pereira 1992, Vilela and Selivon 2000, Vilela 2001, Santos and Vilela 2005 aiming to determine the developmental sites of Neotropical drosophilids. This article is the fifth of a series (Vilela and Pereira 1992, Vilela and Selivon 2000, Vilela 2001, Santos and Vilela 2005 aiming to determine the developmental sites of Neotropical drosophilids.…”

The male terminalia of seven American species of Drosophila (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

“…(Solanaceae) collected by the author in 1982 in the municipality of Santa Isabel, state of São Paulo, Brazil (Vilela 1984). However, at that time, the author was unable to identify those males to species level, and they were just mistakenly cited as "unidentified species of tripunctata group" (see also Santos and Vilela 2005 (Fig. 8) will complement that of the aedeagus tip in ventral view published in the original description (Wheeler 1957: 91; fig.…”

TheDrosophila flavopilosaspecies group (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

“…7 They are thus monophagous species that explore as hosts open or closed flowers of different Cestrum species (C. amictum, C. calycinum, C. corymbosum, C. euanthes, C. intermedium, C. nocturnum, C. parqui, C. schlechtendalii, C. sendtnerianum and C. tomentosum) and Sessea brasiliensi. 8, * However, it appears that different species of flies present distinct preference levels to each species of plant, with straightforward overlap, but particular restrictions, 8 as can be seen in Table 1, which lists Cestrum hosts for the six Brazilian species.…”

“…The distribution of Cestrum flowers is more or less discontinuous along the year, with different species presenting generally different phenological seasons. 8,38 Alternate host flourishing patterns associated with migration may provide the explanation for the D. flavopilosa group species maintenance throughout the year, although frequent bottlenecks may not be disregarded. Another explanation provided by Brncic (1966) 16 is that some adults could survive even when their hosts stop producing flowers.…”