Plant‐galling insect interactions: a data set of host plants and their gall‐inducing insects for the Cerrado

Abstract

Recent decades have seen increased research interest in the processes and mechanisms related to insect gall richness and host plants. The data set provided here includes 968 records of interactions between galling insects and host plants for the Cerrado biome. The data set comprises 505 species of 222 genera and 67 families of host plants. The botanical families most represented in the data set are Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Malpighiaceae, and Melastomataceae, which account for ~48.5% of all records and 52% of the total number of species. The gall‐inducing insects listed in the data set include 48 species of Cecidomyiidae and one species of Tephritidae. This data set is the first to compile inventories of plant‐galling insect communities and information about the diversity and distribution of insect galls and their host plants in the Cerrado. The data set reveals knowledge gaps and opportunities for future research on patterns of diversity and distribution, and provides a basis for generating and testing new ecological hypotheses. Please cite this data paper when using the current data in publications and let us know how the data are used in the publications. There are no copyright restrictions.

Insect galls and associated fauna in two areas of Cerrado sensu stricto in the State of Bahia, Brazil

“…The gall richness in JB and MP were high in comparison to other areas with Cerrado sensu stricto vegetation (Araújo et al 2007, Urso-Guimarães et al 2003, Coelho et al 2013, Nogueira et al 2016, corroborating other studies that indicate that the Cerrado has the richest fauna of galling insects in Brazil (Araújo 2018, Cintra et al 2020.…”

“…Those botanical families together with Asteraceae and Melastomataceae hosting a rich diversity of gall-inducing insects in the Cerrado (n = 468 gall morphotypes), with many species bearing galls (n = 263 spp.) (Cintra et al 2020).…”

“…Cerrado vegetation has several interactions among plants and herbivores (Ribeiro & Fernandes 2000, Furtado et al 2003, Cintra et al 2020). Among the different forms of herbivory, the endophytic habit of galling insects is by far the most sophisticated (Shorthouse et al 2005).…”

“…The Brazilian Cerrado has been the subject of in-depth studies on the richness of galls, mainly in state of Minas Gerais (e.g., Gonçalves-Alvim & Fernandes 2001, Urso-Guimarães et al 2003, Carneiro et al 2009a, Araújo & Guilherme 2012, Coelho et al 2013, Cintra et al 2020). The richness of gall studies in the Cerrado of Bahia State has been little studied; only five has yet been undertaken in the municipalities of Caetité (Nogueira et al 2016, Vieira et al 2018, Santana et al 2020 and Barreiras (Lima & Calado 2018).…”

Marginal leaf galls on Pliocene leaves from India indicate mutualistic behavior between Ipomoea plants and Eriophyidae mites

“… Subglobose or fusiform 10–15 mm Absent Mani, 1973 48 Pauropsylla globuli (Homoptera) Globose 5–6 mm Mani, 1973 48 Caryocar brasiliense (Caryocaraceae) Eurytoma sp. (Hymenoptera) Spherical 4–6 mm Present Cintra et al, 2020 63 Quercus sp. Andrlcus pruinosus , A. utriculus , A. pilulus ; Neuroterus bassettii ; N. cockerell i; Dryophanta pulchripennis Globose 2–3 mm Present Felt, 1940 27 Ipomoea staphylina (Convolvulaceae) Eriophyes sp.…”