scholarly journals Insect galls of São Tomé das Letras (MG, Brazil)

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Cid Maia

Six localities of São Tomé das Letras (MG, Brazil) were investigated from September, 2011 to June, 2012. The local vegetation was examined in search of insect galls. A total of 152 morphotypes of insect galls were found on 94 plant species (74 genera and 37 families). Fabaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, and Asteraceae were the plant families with the greatest richness of galls, with 20, 18, 17, and 12 gall morphotypes, respectively. The super host genera were Copaifera L. (Fabaceae), Myrcia DC. ex. Guill. (Myrtaceae), and Miconia Ruiz & Pav. (Melastomataceae), with 10, 10 and 09 gall morphotypes, respectively. The super host species was Copaifera cf.langsdorfii Desf. (Fabaceae), with 10 gall morphotypes. Galls were found on leaves, stems, buds, and aerial roots. Leaves were the most galled plant organ, followed by stems, and buds. The inducers belong to Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera, being Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) the most frequent and diversified gallers. The associated fauna included parasitoids (Hymenoptera), inquilines (Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera), successors (Formicidae, Hymenoptera), and predators (pseudoscorpion), obtained from 18, 02, 02, and 01 gall morphotype, respectively. Ten galling species are recorded for the first time in São Tomé das Letras (MG). The present study indicates São Tomé das Letras (MG) as an area of great richness of insect galls.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leir Guimarães Vieira ◽  
Ravena Malheiros Nogueira ◽  
Elaine Cotrim Costa ◽  
Sheila Patrícia Carvalho-Fernandes ◽  
Juliana Santos Silva

Abstract: We investigated insect galls in Rupestrian field and Cerrado vegetation in the municipality of Caetité (BA), Brazil, between August/2015 and June/2016. This is the first study of gall diversity in Rupestrian field vegetation in that state. We encountered 48 different morphotypes of galls, distributed among 17 different plant species belonging to 13 genera and 21 host plant families. The greatest gall richness was observed in Cerrado (n=39) as compared to Rupestrian field (n=9) vegetation. The principal botanical families observed with galls were Leguminosae, Malpighiaceae, and Myrtaceae, with 10, 8 and 4 morphotypes, respectively. The genera showing the greatest gall diversity were Copaifera L. (n=6) (Leguminosae-Detarioideae), Croton L. (n=2) (Euphorbiaceae), Mimosa L. (n=2) (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae), Byrsonima Rich. ex Kunth (n=2) (Malpighiaceae), and Eugenia L. (n=2) (Myrtaceae). The super-host species was Copaifera sabulicola J.A.S. Costa & L.P. Queiroz (n= 5). Most galls occurred on leaves, being globoid, glabrous, isolated, and unilocular. Most gall-inducing insect species belong to the Cecidomyiidae family, while the associated fauna was represented by Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. We recorded here for the first time galls on Ocotea velutina (Mart. ex Ness) Rohwer (Lauraceae) and Miconia alborufescens Naudin (Melastomataceae). The results indicate the need for more studies to understand the dynamics of the insect-induced galls in Rupestrian field.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Cid Maia ◽  
Marcelo da Costa Souza

The xeric vegetation of Ilha do Cabo Frio (Arraial do Cabo, RJ) was investigated for insect galls, in May, June and August of 2012, totalizing 24 hours of field work. Forty-five morphotypes of insect galls were found on 29 species of host plant (25 genera and 18 families). Asteraceae and Myrtaceae were the most galled plant families. Leaves were the most galled plant organ, with ca. 62% of the total, followed by stems (ca. 22%). Globoid and fusiform galls were the most frequent with about 29% and 24%, respectively. The majority was glabrous (ca. 91%), and one-chambered (ca. 84%). Gallers of 30 morphotypes were determined. They belong to Diptera (Cecidomyiidae), and Lepidoptera. The former was the most frequent. Larvae of Muscomorpha (Diptera) (probably inquilines) were found in a single gall morphotype; parasitoids (Hymenoptera) in seven (ca. 15% of the total), and predators (pseudoscorpion) in a single one. As there is no previous data of insect galls of Ilha do Cabo Frio, all records presented here are new. The geographic distribution of nine species of gall midges (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) is widened. For the first time, eleven plant species are recorded as host of galling insects, and 24 gall morphotypes are described.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Ismael Cividini Flor ◽  
Jandira Chacha Ribeiro Flor ◽  
Paulo Sérgio Do Nascimento Furtado

Abstract. Insect galls of the Floresta da Cicuta (Volta Redonda, RJ, Brazil). Galls are changes in the pattern of growth and development of plant tissues or organs in response to the action of an inducing organism, usually an insect. The goal of the present study was to inventory the insect galls of the Floresta da Cicuta (Volta Redonda, RJ, Brazil). The collections were carried out along all the trails, totaling 16 hours of sampling. Forty-three morphotypes of insect galls were found in 24 plant species (18 genera and 15 families). Sapindaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most richness host plant families. Six new records of host plant species are presented: Senefeldera verticillata (Vell.) Croizat. (Euphorbiaceae), Inga acuminata (Fabaceae), Ocotea elegans (Lauraceae), Ouratea stipulata (Ochnaceae), Psychotria nuda (Rubiaceae) and Cestrum intermedium (Solanaceae). Most of the galls occurred on leaves (n = 21) and stems (n = 18), followed by buds (n = 2), two gall morphotypes occurred simultaneously on leaves and stems. One-chambered galls were more frequent (n = 31), as well as glabrous galls (n = 33). The gallers belong to three insect orders: Diptera (Cecidomyiidae), Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera. The associated fauna comprised parasitoids (Hymenoptera), inquilines (Hemiptera and Coleoptera) and successors (Isoptera and Acari).


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Santos de Araújo ◽  
Benedito Baptista dos Santos ◽  
Vera Lúcia Gomes-Klein

In this study we recorded the occurrence of insect galls, inductors and parasitoids in plants of several physiognomies of Brazilian Cerrado in the Serra dos Pireneus, Goiás State, Brazil. We found 62 morphotypes of gall on 28 botanical families, comprising 44 genera and 51 species. The plant families that showed the greatest richness of galls were Fabaceae, with eight morphotypes, and Styracaceae with six. Styrax pohlii (Styracaceae) was the host plant species with the greatest gall richness, featuring five morphotypes. Most of galls occurred on the leaves (82.6%), 45.1% in vegetation of typical savanna and 35.4% in rocky savanna. Dipteran, Hemipteran and Lepidopteran galls were found, being 50.9% of them induced by Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). Several parasitoids were obtained, Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) was the most representative group (occurring in approximately 40% of the galls). Nine species of plants were recorded for the first time in the Neotropical as host of gallers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Virginia Urso-Guimarães ◽  
Ingrid Koch ◽  
Ana Carolina Devides Castello

Abstract: The Pantanal Biome occupies 20% of the Brazilian territory extending its distribution over two Brazilian States, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. This Biome is one of Brazil's poorly known regions concerning insect gall and their interactions with host plants. In this study, we characterized for the first time the gall morphology, identified host plants and the gall makers from an area of Brazilian wetlands from Mato Grosso State, known as Pantanal Matogrossense. We sampled Pantanal Biome areas in Poconé municipality, along the Transpantaneira Road, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, in two expeditions, July 2012 and January 2013, with a total effort of 2 hours. We characterized 91 morphotypes of insect galls in 54 host plant species; 28 gall makers in 24 host plant species; the richest host plant families are Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, and Sapindaceae. Psidium guineense Sw. is the super host species. This area in Pantanal Matogrossense is the second in the richness of gall morphotypes (N=91) and average morphotypes/plant species (1.7), comparing phytophysiognomies. Additionally, 15 plant species are new record as host in galler-host plant interaction in the world. This number represents 30% of the total of host plant species sampled in Poconé. This inventory is new knowledge to the Pantanal Matogrossense and representing a unique testimony of insect-plant interactions consumed by the unprecedented fire that occurred in Pantanal Biome in the dry season of 2020.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Cid Maia

Abstract: Inventories in Brazilian restingas have been indicating that Myrtaceae are the plant family with the greatest richness of insect galls. A compilation of published data plus new records was elaborated with the aim of stablishing the number of gall morphotypes on this family in this physiognomy of the Atlantic Forest, producing a list of galled species, pointing out the predominant gall features, evaluating the taxonomical knowledge of the gallers, listing the associated fauna, and based on host plant endemisms and monophagy proposing the endemism of some galling species. Myrtaceae harbor 111 morphotypes of insect gall (about 75% induced by Cecidomyiidae, Diptera) on 25 host plant species, 15 endemic. Eugenia L. highlights as the plant genus with the highest number of galled species and gall richness. Leaves are the most galled organ. There is a predominance of globoid and fusiform shapes, green color, glabrous surface and a single internal chamber. The taxonomical data on gallers is deficient as many records have been presented at supraspecific levels. The associated fauna is rich and includes parasitoids, inquilines and predators. Twelve species of Cecidomyiidae, a single species of Curculionidae (Coleoptera) and one species of Eriococcidae (Hemiptera) have been associated exclusively with endemic hosts and then are proposed in the present study as endemic too. The geographical distribution of many galls and respective gallers are restricted to the State of Rio de Janeiro, where most inventories have been carried out. For the first time, Eugeniamyia dispar, previously known from a rural area of Rio Grande do Sul and restinga areas of São Paulo, is recorded in the State of Rio de Janeiro.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (32) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bárbara Araújo Ribeiro Bergamini ◽  
Leonardo Lima Bergamini ◽  
Benedito Baptista dos Santos ◽  
Walter Santos de Araújo

In the present paper we investigated the insect gall distribution along savanna and forest sites in the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Goiás, Brazil. The insect gall fauna was surveyed bi-monthly between December 2009 and June 2010. In total we found 186 insect gall morphotypes, distributed on 35 botanical families and 61 plant species. Ninety-nine insect gall morphotypes were recorded in the forest and 87 in the savanna. Gall-inducing insects belonged to Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera, with highlight to Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) that induced 34.1% of the gall morphotypes. Parasitoids and/or inquilines were recorded in 38 morphotypes, mainly from the families Eulophidae, Eurytomidae and Torymidae (Hymenoptera). Fabaceae was the botanical family with the greatest richness of galls, followed by Asteraceae and Sapindaceae, being Protium (Burseraceae), Siparuna (Siparunaceae) and Serjania (Sapindaceae) the main host genera. This is the first systematic survey of insect galls realized in the Flona-Silvânia, which result in six plant species are recorded for the first time in Brazil as host of insect galls.


2022 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. C. Maia

Abstract Several records of associated fauna, including parasitoids, inquilines, predators, and successors, have been reported by insect gall inventories in Brazilian restingas. Although most guilds are well established, inquilines have frequently been misinterpreted. In this paper, the inquilinous fauna of insect galls is revised based on five criteria: food habit; coexistence with the inducer; modification of gall tissues or production of new tissues; phylogenetic relationship with the inducer; and mobility. Gall inventories dated from 1988 to 2019 were examined, totaling 16 publications, eight of them with inquiline records. This guild was reported in 53 gall morphotypes in 44 plant species and four morphospecies distributed among 36 genera of 24 host families for a total of 65 records. Most inquilines were repositioned into the cecidophage guild and others into the kleptoparasite guild, resulting in a large reduction in the frequency of inquilines (from 65 to five records), and in first reports of cecidophages and kleptoparasites, with 46 and 13 records, respectively. Cecidophage was the most diverse guild with insects of five orders (Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, and Thysanoptera) while kleptoparasites were represented only by two orders (Diptera and Hymenoptera) and inquiline solely by Hymenoptera. Other results indicate that Leptothorax sp. (Formicidae) could be a successor and not an inquiline.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravena Malheiros Nogueira ◽  
Elaine Cotrim Costa ◽  
Sheila Patrícia Carvalho-Fernandes ◽  
Juliana Santos-Silva

We inventoried and characterized the kinds of gall, gall-inducing insects and host plants from Serra Geral between August 2013 and July 2014. Two phytophysiognomies, cerrado sensu stricto and caatinga-cerrado, were examined monthly along transects during ca. 4 hours per visit, totaling 48 hours of sampling effort. A total of 49 gall morphotypes were found on 14 species of host plants in 18 genera and 13 families. Fabaceae and Malpighiaceae were the families with the most galls, with 22 and 10 gall morphotypes, respectively. The genera of host plant with the greatest richness of galls were Copaifera L. (n=10), Bauhinia Benth. (n=6), and Mimosa L. (n=5). Galls were found on leaves, buds and stems. The majority of the galls were globoid, glabrous, isolated, and one-chambered. The inducers belong to Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) being the most frequent and diverse gall-inducers. The associated fauna included parasitoids (Hymenoptera), successors (Formicidae), and predators (Pseudoscorpiones), obtained from 13, 2, and 1 gall morphotypes, respectively. Five plant taxa are recorded as hosts of gall-inducing insects for the first time.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Cid Maia

Three sites of Itamonte (Minas Gerais) were investigated for insect galls from September, 2011 to July, 2012, seasonally. One-hundred and one morphotypes of insect galls were recorded on 63 species of host plant (45 genera and 23 families). Melastomataceae was the most galled plant family, followed by Asteraceae and Myrtaceae. Galls were recorded on leaves, stems, buds, and aerial roots. Leaves were the most galled plant organ. The gall morphotypes were characterized according to their shape, color, pubescence, and number of internal chambers. Globose and fusiform galls were the most frequent. The majority was glabrous and one-chambered. The gallers comprised three insect orders: Diptera (Cecidomyiidae and Tephritidae), Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera. Cecidomyiidae were the most frequent galling taxa. Parasitoids (Hymenoptera) were obtained from six morphotypes (ca. 6% of the total). The results are compared to those of other Brazilian insect gall inventories. As there is no previous gall inventory in Itamonte, all records presented here are new.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document