Plantas hospedeiras e galhas entomógenas em sub-bosques de florestas tropicais do Pará, Brasil

Abstract

Host plants and entomogenous galls in understory of tropical forests in the Pará, Brazil) In this study we recorded the occurrence of galls and host plants in understory areas of Floresta Ombrófila Densa, in the Floresta Nacional de Saracá-Taquera in Porto Trombetas, north of Pará, Brazil. We recorded 112 gall morphotypes distributed in 65 families and 33 species of host plants, being Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) the most important group of galling insects. The plant families that showed more gall richness were Fabaceae with 18 morphotypes, Bignoniaceae with 14, Lauraceae and Sapotaceae with 12, and Burseraceae with 10 galling species. The genera Adenocalymma (Bignoniaceae), Pouteria (Sapotaceae), Inga (Fabaceae) and Protium (Burseraceae) and the species Adenocalymma neoflavidum (Bignoniaceae) and Ocotea sp. (Lauraceae) were the most diverse host plant taxa. Gall richness in the studied forest is high when compared to others Brazilian biomes, as Cerrado and Mata Atlântica. These results show the importance of Amazon region to diversity of entomogenous galls in the Brazil.

An overview of inventories of gall-inducing insects in Brazil: looking for patterns and identifying knowledge gaps

“…In virtually all compiled inventories at least one of these families appears in the top three most important families (see Table I). The importance of Fabaceae was found to be true for many Brazilian biomes, such as the Amazon (e.g., Almada et al 2011, Araújo et al 2012, Atlantic Forest (e.g., Negreiros 2006, Maia and, Caatinga (e.g., Santos et al 2011b, Costa et al 2014 and Cerrado (e.g., Maia and Fernandes alpha diversity) as well as regional richness (i.e., beta diversity) (Araújo et al 2013). Other factors, such as architecture, phenology and release of natural enemies, can also explain the importance of these plant species to host galling insects (Araújo et al 2013).…”

Understory host plant and insect gall diversity changes across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

“…In the eastern Amazon, three surveys conducted in the region of Porto Trombetas also recorded a high diversity of galling insects in the understory habitat. Maia (2011) obtained 78 galling species whereas Almada and Fernandes (2011) and Araújo et al (2012) sampled 309, and 112 galling insect morphospecies, respectively, in the same study area. The discrepancies among these findings may be the result of samplings being performed in forest stands at different succession stages (Price 2005) and using differing methodologies.…”

Occurrence and characterization of entomogenic galls in an area of Cerrado sensu stricto and Gallery forest of the state of Bahia, Brazil

“…Studies on galls have increased expressively in recent years in Brazil. Most of them regards inventories of gall diversity in different ecosystems (e.g., Araújo et al 2012, Costa et al 2014a, b, Nogueira et al 2016, while others have investigated ecological aspects of gall-inducing insects or described new species (e.g., Maia and Souza 2007, Maia 2014, as well as the structural and ultrastructural natures of gall tissues (e.g., Arduin and Kraus 2001, Moura et al 2009, Oliveira and Isaias 2010, Isaias et al 2011, Suzuki et al 2015. Additional studies have focused on the importance of galls as bioindicators (Moreira et al 2007, Oliveira 2009).…”