The topology of a plant-insect visitation network from the Hajar Mountains, Oman

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
J. Monks
Keyword(s):  
Network Topology ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Lepidopteran Species ◽  
Insect Visitation ◽  
Bee Diversity ◽  
Socotra Archipelago ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
First Time

The Arabian Peninsula is a hotspot for bee diversity but studies looking at plant-insect interactions there remain rare. A network analysis of insects visiting wildflowers in the Hajar Mountains, Oman was made from the results of eight survey periods between 2016 and 2020. Centrality scores were used to assess the role different groups of potential pollinators play in network topology. A list of 113 insect species visiting 26 plant species has been compiled with Lepidopteran species acting as important connectors within the network. A nested, asymmetric and compartmentalised network was recorded. The order Hymenoptera was the most species rich group, with 46 species recorded followed by Diptera (43 spp.), Lepidoptera (13 spp.), and Coleoptera (11 spp.). Amegilla pyramidalis (Kirby, 1900) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Antho phorini) is recorded for the first time outside of the Socotra Archipelago. The study is the first specific effort to record the flower visitation behaviour of insects in Oman and gives an overview of the resulting visitation network.

Annotated catalogue of beetles (Coleoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4715 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIŘÍ HÁJEK ◽  
JAN BEZDĚK
Keyword(s):  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Species Level ◽  
East African ◽  
African Species ◽  
Old World ◽  
Tropical Areas ◽  
Annotated Catalogue ◽  
Socotra Archipelago ◽  
Western Palaearctic ◽  
First Time

Beetles of the Socotra Archipelago, Yemen, were catalogued. Altogether, 645 morphospecies from 56 families have been recognised from the Archipelago, of which 516 species (one with an additional two subspecies) were identified to the species level. Twenty-four, mostly widely distributed, species are recorded from the Socotra Archipelago for the first time, and three species are newly recorded for the islands Abd el Kuri (1) and Samha (2). Lithocharis socotrana Assing, 2015 (Staphylinidae), described from Socotra, is recorded from continental Yemen for the first time. Five incomplete or incorrect previous records are corrected. A total of 305 (47%) of all recorded species are considered to be endemic to the Socotra Archipelago. A total of 62 (10%) species are widely distributed Afrotropical species, and 35 (5.5%) East African species, often reaching also the Arabian Peninsula; 16 (2.5%) species occur in the eremial zone of Saharo-Arabian (or Saharo-Sindian) region. Only 14 (2%) species were previously known solely from the Arabian Peninsula; 30 (4.5%) species have cosmopolitan (and often anthropogenic) distributions; 28 (4.5%) species are widely distributed in (sub)tropical areas of the Old World; and 26 (4%) species have a predominantly western Palaearctic distribution. At present, 129 (20%) morphospecies remain unidentified; however, we expect that many of them represent as yet undescribed taxa endemic to the Archipelago. 

scholarly journals Plant-insect interactions patterns in three European paleoforests of the late-Neogene—early-Quaternary

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Adroit ◽  
Vincent Girard ◽  
Lutz Kunzmann ◽  
Jean-Frédéric Terral ◽  
Torsten Wappler
Keyword(s):  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Climate Variations ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Fossil Leaves ◽  
Late Neogene ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Potential Factors ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
First Time

Plants and insects are constantly interacting in complex ways through forest communities since hundreds of millions of years. Those interactions are often related to variations in the climate. Climate change, due to human activities, may have disturbed these relationships in modern ecosystems. Fossil leaf assemblages are thus good opportunities to survey responses of plant–insect interactions to climate variations over the time. The goal of this study is to discuss the possible causes of the differences of plant–insect interactions’ patterns in European paleoforests from the Neogene–Quaternary transition. This was accomplished through three fossil leaf assemblages: Willershausen, Berga (both from the late Neogene of Germany) and Bernasso (from the early Quaternary of France). In Willershausen it has been measured that half of the leaves presented insect interactions, 35% of the fossil leaves were impacted by insects in Bernasso and only 25% in Berga. The largest proportion of these interactions in Bernasso were categorized as specialist (mainly due to galling) while in Willershausen and Berga those ones were significantly more generalist. Contrary to previous studies, this study did not support the hypothesis that the mean annual precipitation and temperature were the main factors that impacted the different plant–insect interactions’ patterns. However, for the first time, our results tend to support that the hydric seasonality and the mean temperature of the coolest months could be potential factors influencing fossil plant–insect interactions.

Averting robo-bees: why free-flying robotic bees are a bad idea

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-729
Author(s):  
Roslyn Gleadow ◽  
Jim Hanan ◽  
Alan Dorin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Food Security ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Native Habitat ◽  
Insect Pollinators ◽  
Insect Interactions

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.

scholarly journals Plant Metabolites Involved in the Differential Development of a Heliantheae-Specialist Insect

Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Marília Elias Gallon ◽  
Leonardo Gobbo-Neto
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Sesquiterpene Lactones ◽  
Nutritional Ecology ◽  
Plant Metabolites ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Tridax Procumbens ◽  
Integrative Studies ◽  
Specialist Insect ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
New Research

Balanced nutritional intake is essential to ensure that insects undergo adequate larval development and metamorphosis. Integrative multidisciplinary approaches have contributed valuable insights regarding the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of plant–insect interactions. To address the plant metabolites involved in the larval development of a specialist insect, we investigated the development of Chlosyne lacinia caterpillars fed on Heliantheae species (Tithonia diversifolia, Tridax procumbens and Aldama robusta) leaves and determined the chemical profile of plants and insects using a metabolomic approach. By means of LC-MS and GC-MS combined analyses, 51 metabolites were putatively identified in Heliantheae species and C. lacinia caterpillars and frass; these metabolites included flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenes, triterpenes, oxygenated terpene derivatives, steroids and lipid derivatives. The leading discriminant metabolites were diterpenes, which were detected only in A. robusta leaves and insects that were fed on this plant-based diet. Additionally, caterpillars fed on A. robusta leaves took longer to complete their development to the adult phase and exhibited a greater diapause rate. Hence, we hypothesized that diterpenes may be involved in the differential larval development. Our findings shed light on the plant metabolites that play roles in insect development and metabolism, opening new research avenues for integrative studies of insect nutritional ecology.

Livestock grazing disrupts plant-insect interactions on salt marshes

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Rickert ◽  
Andreas Fichtner ◽  
Roel van Klink
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Insect Interactions
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document