Why do many galls have conspicuous colors? A new hypothesis

Inbar, Moshe; Izhaki, Ido; Koplovich, Avi; Lupo, I.; Silanikove, Nissim; Glasser, Tzach; Gerchman, Yoram; Perevolotsky, Avi; Lev‐Yadun, Simcha

doi:10.1007/s11829-009-9082-7

Cited by 69 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…In some reported cases, there was a graduation from green to red, brown or yellow through shades of orange and pink. This color variation has also been observed by Fernandes, Neto and Martins (1988), Inbar et al (2010), and Dias et al (2013). The green color of the galls reveals the existence of photosynthetic cells, which could be an advantage for host plants, because they increase the photosynthetic surface due to hyperplasia and hypertrophy of plant cells.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Galling insects are bioindicators of environmental quality in a Conservation Unit

Santana

Isaías

2014

Acta Bot. Bras.

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Galls are well distributed across the World and among plant families. Their diversity can support the status of conservation of an area as an urban park, once inventories are presented. These inventories also help to understand the morphological patterns of the galls, based on their most common shape, color, host botanical families, inducers and galled organs. This study is about an inventory of galls at Parque Estadual Serra Verde, Brazil. This conservation unit is an urban park strongly anthropized in a transition area of Cerrado and Mata Atlântica. Galls from four different trails were observed, and collected monthly during one year. The terminology morphospecies was used to distinguish the galls because the identification of the inducers were not always possible. Seventy five morphospecies of galls belonging to 43 host plant species of 24 botanical families were observed. Mostly of the galls was induced by Diptera:Cecidomyiidae, in Fabaceae and Myrtaceae. The most common traits were the globoid shape and green color. The leaves were the most frequent galled organ and followed by the stems. All these tendencies had been already observed in other inventories. Comparing current results with other studies at similar areas, we can assume that the Parque Estadual Serra Verde is very important for conservation. Urban green areas are subject to high disturbance and degradation but also increase the quality of life for the population inhabiting the areas nearby. The diversity of galls at Parque Estadual Serra Verde reflects an area with high levels of stress but with moderate botanical diversity. These features make this protected area an important site for the continuous conservation and regeneration, and highlight the environmental value of Parque Estadual Serra Verde.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Galling insects are bioindicators of environmental quality in a Conservation Unit

Santana

Isaías

2014

Acta Bot. Bras.

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“…White cotton-like galls may mimic these white arthropod structures and reduce herbivory on galls and surrounding plant tissues, resulting in higher survival rates for galling insects and their host plants. Because galls are attractive food sources for certain herbivores they are vulnerable to herbivory if not well-defended and as a consequence may be protected by aposematism and mimicry in addition to chemical and physical defences (Inbar et al, 2010;Rostás et al, 2013;Yamazaki, 2016). Plant pappi and comae are white and abundant, but also temporal.…”

Section: White Mimicry Complex Across Plants Fungi and Arthropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

White plant shoots, wax-producing insects and other white structures made by arthropods: A mimicry complex?

Yamazaki¹

2017

Eur. J. Entomol.

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“…As such, several ecological hypotheses have been proposed to explain the patterns of gall attack on their host plants PRICE, 1988;FLECK;FONSECA, 2007;INBAR et al, 2010). Due to the high specificity for its host plants and sessile habit during the larval phase (CUEVAS-REYES et al, 2004;CARNEIRO et al, 2009), the guild of gall-inducing species is considered an important tool to test hypotheses about insect-plant interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gall-formig insect attack patterns: a test of the Plant Vigor and the Resource Concentration Hypotheses

Tuller

Queiroz

Luz³

et al. 2013

Biotemas

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ResumoPadrões de ataque de galhadores: um teste das hipóteses do vigor da planta e da concentração de recursos. Nós testamos duas hipóteses para investigar os padrões de ataque de insetos galhadores na planta hospedeira Eriotheca pubescens: (i) módulos mais vigorosos são mais atacados por insetos galhadores; (ii) indivíduos de E. pubescens em maiores densidades de indivíduos co-específicos possuem uma maior abundância de galhas. Nós coletamos ramos terminais da planta hospedeira para mensurar o comprimento dos seus módulos e a riqueza e abundância de galhadores. Nós determinamos a densidade de E. pubescens em um círculo com 5m de raio em torno do indivíduo focal. Houve uma maior disponibilidade de ramos curtos. Dentre os quatro morfotipos de galhas avaliados, dois preferiram ramos longos e outros dois não apresentaram preferência por um determinado tamanho de ramo. O ataque de galhadores não apresentou relação com a densidade de plantas hospedeiras. Então, o vigor da planta foi um fator determinante, para o ataque de galhas em E. pubescens. Por outro lado, a hipótese da concentração de recursos não foi importante em nível intra-específico para o ataque de galhas nesse sistema. Palavras-chave: Comprimento do módulo; Embiruçu; Eriotheca pubescens; Inseto galhador AbstractWe tested the following two hypotheses to investigate the attack patterns by gall-inducing insects on their host plant Eriotheca pubescens: (i) vigorous modules are more often attacked by galling insects; and (ii) E. pubescens trees associated with a higher density of co-specific individuals have a higher gall abundance. We collected terminal branches from the host plant to measure their module lengths and gall richness and abundance and determined the E. pubescens densities in a 5m radius around the focal individual. There was a higher availability of short branches. Among the four gall morphotypes, two preferred the higher branches, and the other two morphotypes had no shoot length preference. Gall attack did not present a relationship with the host plant density. Thus, the vigor of E. pubescens was a determining factor only for some gall morphotypes. In contrast, the resource concentration hypothesis was not important at an intraspecific level for gall attack in this system.

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Why do many galls have conspicuous colors? A new hypothesis

Cited by 69 publications

References 54 publications

Galling insects are bioindicators of environmental quality in a Conservation Unit

Galling insects are bioindicators of environmental quality in a Conservation Unit

White plant shoots, wax-producing insects and other white structures made by arthropods: A mimicry complex?

Gall-formig insect attack patterns: a test of the Plant Vigor and the Resource Concentration Hypotheses

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