Low host specificity in species-rich assemblages of xylem- and phloem-feeding herbivores (Auchenorrhyncha) in a New Guinea lowland rain forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca F. Dem ◽  
Alan J.A. Stewart ◽  
Amos Gibson ◽  
George D. Weiblen ◽  
Vojtech Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Phylogenetic Distance ◽  
Phloem Feeding

Abstract:We documented one of the most species-rich assemblages of tropical rain-forest Auchenorrhyncha, comprising 402 phloem- and xylem-feeding species, by sampling adults from forest vegetation. Further, we reared 106 species from larvae sampled on 14 plant species. Both xylem- and phloem-feeding guilds exhibited wide host-plant ranges, as 74% of species fed on more than one plant family. In comparison, using data extracted from the temperate-zone literature, phloem-feeders exhibited lower host specificity in Papua New Guinea than in Germany, because in Papua New Guinea they were dominated by generalist Fulgoroidea while in Germany by specialist Membracoidea. The similarity of Auchenorrhyncha assemblages from different plant species was unrelated to the phylogenetic distance between their hosts. Host specificity, abundance and species composition of Auchenorrhyncha assemblages were unrelated to the optimum of their host plant species on succession gradient from secondary to primary forest. Higher host specificity did not lead to greater species richness in Auchenorrhyncha assemblages feeding on different plant species, but the number of species feeding on a particular plant species was a strong predictor of the Auchenorrhyncha abundance on that plant. These patterns suggest that Auchenorrhyncha assemblages on these plant species are not saturated with species and determined by division of limited resources among competitors, but instead are dependent on the number of colonizers from the regional species pool.

scholarly journals Host specialization and species richness of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a New Guinea rain forest

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Novotny ◽  
Anthony R. Clarke ◽  
Richard A. I. Drew ◽  
Solomon Balagawi ◽  
Barbara Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Fruit Flies ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
Area 5 ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Single Genus

Frugivorous dacine fruit flies were studied in a lowland tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea to determine their host specificity, abundance, and the number of species attacking various plant species. Plant species hosted 0–3 fruit fly species at median (1–3 quartile) densities of 1 (0–17) fruit flies per 100 fruits. Fruit flies were mostly specialized to a single plant family (83% species) and within each family to a single genus (88% species), while most of the species (66%) were able to feed on >1 congeneric plant species. Only 30 from the 53 studied plant species were colonized by fruit flies. The plant–fruit fly food web, including these 30 plant species and the total of 29 fruit fly species feeding on them, was divided into 14 compartments, each including 1–8 plant species hosting mutually disjunct assemblages of fruit flies. This structure minimizes indirect interactions among plant species via shared herbivores. The local species pool was estimated at 152±32 (±SE) fruit fly species. Forty per cent of all taxonomically described species known from Papua New Guinea were reared or trapped in our study area. Such a high proportion indicates low beta-diversity of fruit flies. Steiner traps were highly efficient in sampling the lure-responsive fruit fly species as they re-collected 84% of all species trapped in the same area 5 y before. Fruit fly monitoring by these traps is a cheap, simple and efficient method for the study of spatial and temporal changes in rain-forest communities.

Frugivorous weevils are too rare to cause Janzen–Connell effects in New Guinea lowland rain forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Ctvrtecka ◽  
Katerina Sam ◽  
Erik Brus ◽  
George D. Weiblen ◽  
Vojtech Novotny
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Single Plant ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Weevil Species ◽  
Low Incidence ◽  
Specialist Species

Abstract:A community of frugivorous weevils was studied by quantitative rearing of 57 weevil species represented by 10485 individuals from 326 woody plant species in lowland rain forest in Papua New Guinea. Only fruits from 35% of plant species were attacked by weevils. On average, weevils were reared from only 1 in 33 fruits and 1 kg of fruit was attacked by 2.51 individuals. Weevil host specificity was relatively high: 42% of weevil species fed on a single plant genus, 19% on a single plant family and only 16% were reared from more than one family. However, monophagous specialists represented only 23% of all reared individuals. The average 1 kg of fruits was infested by 1.84 individuals of generalist weevils (feeding on allogeneric or allofamilial host species), 0.52 individual of specialists (feeding on a single or several congeneric species), and 0.15 individual of unknown host specificity. Large-seeded fruits with thin mesocarp tended to host specialist species whereas those with thick, fleshy mesocarp were often infested with both specialists and generalists. Weevils tended to avoid small-seeded, fleshy fruits. The low incidence of seed damage (3% of seeds) suggests that weevils are unlikely to play a major role in regulating plant populations via density-dependent mortality processes outlined by the Janzen–Connell hypothesis.

Review of the Australian stilt flies (Diptera : Micropezidae) with a phylogenetic analysis of the family

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. McAlpine
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
New Species ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Host Plant Species ◽  
The Family

The Australian taxa of Micropezidae (listed at end of paper) are keyed and described. Crus, Scela, Veru and Seva are new subgenera of Metopochetus Enderlein. In all, 21 new species are described in the genera Metopochetus, CothornobataCzerny, CrepidochetusEnderlein and Mimegralla Rondani. Cothornobata inermis (Malloch) is a new combination (from Grammicomyia). Lectotypes are designated for Calobata compressa Walker (now in Metopochetus), Calobata bivittata Macquart (now in Metopochetus),Mimegralla contingens australicaHennig (now M. australica), Calobata contraria Walker [synonym ofMimegralla sepsoides (Walker)]. Records of the following from Australia are found to be erroneous: Calobata albimana Macquart [synonym ofTaeniaptera trivittata (Macquart)],Mimegralla abana (Walker), Calobata brevicellulata Macquart (now in Mimegralla), Calobata coeruleifrons Macquart (now in Mimegralla) and Metopochetus tipuloides (Walker). The erroneous record of Cothornobata viriata (Enderlein) from Papua New Guinea is corrected. Distributions of species are recorded by means of grid references to a key map. Information on ecology and habits of Australian micropezids is summarised. The populations of two flightless species are vulnerable, because each is apparently dependent on an ecologically vulnerable host-plant species (families Brassicaceae and Cephalotaceae). A phylogeny of the recognised subfamilies and tribes of Micropezidae is given. Literature on fossil micropezids is reviewed.

Yams and megapode mounds in the lowland rain forest of Papua New Guinea

Human Ecology ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Dwyer ◽  
Monica Minnegal
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

Treefall Gap Dynamics in a Tropical Rain Forest in Papua New Guinea

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arison Arihafa ◽  
Andrew L. Mack
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Tropical Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Gap Dynamics ◽  
Treefall Gap

Frugivory and Polygamy in Birds of Paradise

The Auk ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Beehler
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Frugivorous Birds ◽  
Behavioral Adaptations ◽  
Birds Of Paradise ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract I studied fruit-feeding by nine species of birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea from July 1978 through November 1980 and gathered 1,187 records of foraging at 31 species of trees and vines from 14 botanical families. Fruit consumed was consistently small-to moderate-sized (mean: 1 cm diameter), but fruit of different species of plants showed high morphological diversity. I classify the fruit of 31 plant species into three morphological groups: capsule, fig, and drupe/berry. Each of the primarily frugivorous birds of paradise was recorded taking fruits from 10-21 plant species, including representatives from each class. The monogamous Trumpet Manucode and Crinkle-collared Manucode were fig specialists. More than 80% of their diet was figs. The polygamous species of paradisaeids were more "generalized" fruit-feeders and took significant amounts of fruit from all three morphological categories. The most important types of fruit among the polygamous birds were capsular species (49% of diet). While fig species were visited by birds from many families, most nonfig trees hosted a narrower range of foragers, and two species of trees, Chisocheton weinlandii (Meliaceae) and Gastonia spectabilis (Araliaceae), were visited only by birds of paradise. The frugivorous habits of birds of paradise are similar in several respects to those of the neotropical cotingids and manakins. It is argued that while frugivory is an important component of the evolution of polygamous arena display in these birds, it cannot, by itself, explain why some birds are polygamous and others monogamous. Frugivory in the tropics is a complex syndrome that offers a number of ecological alternatives that, in turn, promote different behavioral adaptations.

A new arboreal Lepidodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu: from egg to holotype

Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1918 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
IVAN INEICH
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
The West ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Group Ii

Lepidodactylus buleli is a new gecko from Espiritu Santo Island, central Vanuatu, Melanesia. This species most closely resembles L. pulcher from Admiralty Islands (Papua New Guinea) by its elevated number of midbody scale rows, and belongs to Brown and Parker’s (1977) Group II based on having an entire terminal scansor on all digits followed by two or three divided or deeply notched subterminal scansors on digits II–V. It differs from other Group II species in having the following combination of character states: a high number of scales around midbody, relatively weak dilation of digits, slight webbing of toes III and IV, cloacal spurs, and an original coloration. This species lives in myrmecophilous plants hanging high on trees in the deep primary forest on the west dry coast of Espiritu Santo Island. It also is the first lizard known from a holotype collected as an egg in the field, hatched in captivity, and grown until reaching adult size, allowing its description.

Assessment of the suitability of Plagiohammus spinipennis (Thoms.) (Col., Cerambycidae) as an agent for control of weeds of the genus Lantana (Verbenaceae). II. Host specificity

1969 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. S. Harley ◽  
R. K. Kunimoto
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Tectona Grandis ◽  
Normal Host ◽  
Commercial Importance ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Test Plants

Results are presented of a study of the host specificity of Plagiohammus spinipennis (Thorns.) under conditions that emphasised the behaviour of the insect in the field in the presence of an abundance of its host-plant, Lantana cantata. The results of this and previous studies are compared.The adult beetles fed on various test plants but had little or no deleterious effect. Oviposition was restricted to the insect’s normal host, L. camara, and to Cordia ambigua, G. grandiflora, G. curassavica, Lippia umbellata, Lippia sp. (? miocephala), Tectona grandis and Vernonia deppeana. Of these, only T. grandis is of commercial importance. Larvae were unable to complete their development on this plant and died after feeding briefly. Development by larvae of P. spinipennis was restricted to a small group of mostly related, unimportant plant species as well as the serious weed L. camara.P. spinipennis thus shows a high degree of host specificity, and was therefore liberated for control of Lantana camara in Australia in 1967.

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