Insects galls of Pantanal areas in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: characterization and occurrence

Insect galls of Atlantic Forest areas of Serra da Bodoquena (MS, Midwestern Brazil)

An inventory of insect galls of Serra da Bodoquena (MS, Midwestern Brazil) was carried out in an area of semideciduous seasonal forest situated in the Califórnia Farm. Three field works were done in August/2011, December/2011 and April/2012, when the local vegetation was examined during 40 hours per expedition. Fifty-eight gall morphotypes were found on 40 host plants, 38 of them native. The host plants are distributed in 18 families. The native plants include eight endemic species in Brazil, which together totaled 14 gall morphotypes. Zanthoxylum L. sp. (Rutaceae), an endemic genus in Brazil, hosts one gall morphotype. The non endemic native plants totaled 26 gall morphotypes. Ten new host plants are recorded for the first time in Brazil. The medium number of gall morphotypes per plant species was 1.45. Salicaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Asteraceae presented the highest number of galled species and the greatest gall richness. Leaves were the most frequent galled plant organ and there was a predominance of globoid galls. Diptera (Cecidomyiidae) were the most frequent gallers, but Hemipteran and Thysanopteran galls were also found. The associated fauna was composed of inquilines (Diptera: Muscomorpha and Cecidomyiidae - Trotteria sp., and Thysanoptera), successors (Psocoptera), and parasitoids (Hymenoptera).

Entomogenous galls and their associated fauna in deciduous dry forest and woodland vegetation remnants (Caatinga) in the Northern Depressão Sertaneja, Brazil

Abstract A survey and characterization of entomogenous galls and their associated fauna were carried out in six remnants of Caatinga in the Northern Depressão Sertaneja, in the states of Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. We identified 41 gall morphotypes in 24 plant species, belonging to 12 botanical families. Fabaceae had 29.2% (n = 12) of the total number of gall morphotypes found. Leaves (61%) and stems (25%) were the most attacked organs. Most morphotypes are glabrous (75.6%), while only 24.4% exhibit trichomes. Most galls were induced by insects of the Cecidomyiidae family. The associated fauna comprised successors, cecidophages, tenants, and parasitoids. Sucessors were found in four morphotypes of galls and included spiders and four orders of insects: Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Hymenoptera (Formicidae). The tenants were represented by Tanaostigmoides (Tanaostigmatidae). The parasitoids, found in 18 morphotypes (43.9%), were represented by six families of Hymenoptera. We recorded the occurrence of new types of galls in 12 species of host plants. These gall records are new references for the Northern Depressão Sertaneja in the studied states.

Review of the inquilinous fauna associated with insect galls in Brazilian restingas

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.

Cecidomyiidae (Diptera, Insecta): richness of species and distribution in Brazil

Abstract: Most Neotropical species of Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) have been described from Brazil, but a list of species with occurrence in the country has never been published. Little is known about their distribution and richness in the Brazilian phytogeographic domains. Additionally, a list of host plant species has never been gathered. The present study aims to fill these knowledge gaps and provides an overview of this family in Brazil. For this, data were obtained mainly from the literature, but also from the Cecidomyiidae collection of Museu Nacional and two herbaria (RB and R). Based on the site "Flora do Brasil 2020", botanical names were updated and plant species origin and distribution were verified. A total of 265 gall midge species have been recorded in Brazil, most from the Atlantic Forest (183), followed by Cerrado (60), and Amazon Forest (29). The other phytogeographic domains shelter from five to ten species. Phytophagous gall midges occur on 128 plant species of 52 families, almost all native, being 43 endemic to Brazil (21 endemic to Atlantic Forest, five to Cerrado, and one to Amazon). Although, the taxonomical knowledge is focused on the Atlantic Forest, each domain has its own fauna composition and these informations can be useful for environmental conservational purposes. About 58% of the Brazilian fauna are known only from the type-locality. In order to fill these gaps, it is necessary and important to collect in uninvestigated areas.

Plant galls recorded from Guanacaste Conservation Area-Costa Rica as an integrated concept of a biological database

Abstract: Galling insects are specialist herbivorous that have the ability of manipulating plant tissue to form complex biological structures called galls. Even though different organisms have the ability to induce galls in plants, insect galls have the highest degree of structural complexity. The main goal of this study was to obtain a preliminary systematic record of plant gall morphotypes from the Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica and integrate the information into a biological database. Plant gall morphotypes were recorded, characterized and deposited into a specialized herbarium established as a reference for the inventory. Moreover, organisms associated with gall morphotypes were included in the inventory when it was possible to obtain and identify them. Galls were collected in the rainy season over a period of three years. In total, we recorded forty-four families, seventy genera, and eighty-seven host plant species. One hundred thirty-one morphotypes of plant galls were identified in the Guanacaste Conservation Area. The family with the highest number of gall morphotypes was Fabaceae (8.4%). Leaves were the organ with the largest number of galls (71%), followed by stems (17.6%), and apical buds (6.9%). The predominant gall shape was globular (25.2%), followed by discoid (18.3%). Fifty-nine percent of the galls had a glabrous texture, which was most common on leaves, with 77%. One hundred twenty of our field records (91.6%) of plant galls were new morphotypes not only for Costa Rica but also the world. As a consequence of this research and considering the prospect of future increases in new gall records (and associated organisms), we proposed having the biological entities resulting from the inventory placed in a cecidiarium. This repository represents a standardized and comprehensive way to manage the data and biological materials associated with the plant galls. We also suggest a nomenclature for standardizing gall morphotype registries and identifications. This work is the first and most detailed inventory of plant galls carried out thus far in the Guanacaste Conservation Area.

Insect galls of the Brazilian Cerrado: associated fauna

Abstract: Insect galls host a rich and diverse fauna of secondary dwellers, which compose the associated fauna. In Brazil, many inventories of insect galls in Cerrado areas have recorded secondary dwellers. These records were scattered in several papers. This study gathered literature data to provide an overview of the arthropod fauna associated with insect galls in the Brazilian Cerrado. We searched for scientific publications in online academic databases and retrieved 16 papers with data on the secondary dwellers. We limited our search to the period from 1988 to 2020. We updated the name of plant species and verified endemism and geographic distribution in Flora do Brasil 2020. We provided plant species uses based on the Tropical Useful Plants 2014. We found 163 gall morphotypes with secondary dwellers (16.8% of the total of gall morphotypes of the Brazilian Cerrado) on 94 plant species in 37 families. Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, and Malpighiaceae exhibited the greatest number of records. These are the richest families in insect galls in the Brazilian Cerrado. Most arthropod fauna were recorded in galls of Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). Most records were in leaf galls, the predominant galled organ. Parasitoids were more frequent than successors, inquilines, and predators. Eulophidae and Eurytomidae were the most frequent parasitoid families. Inquilines were represented by Coleoptera, Diplopoda, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Psocoptera, and Thysanoptera; successors by Acari, Araneae, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera), Coleoptera, Collembola, and Formicidae (Hymenoptera), whereas predators by Pseudoscorpiones and Diptera. Most records were presented in suprageneric categories, showing that the taxonomic knowledge is very deficient. 29 plant species are endemic to Brazil and totaled 45 gall morphotypes with secondary dwellers; 46 plant species are useful and host secondary dwellers in 62 gall morphotypes. These data add ecological and economic importance to these arthropods.

Are Fabaceae the principal super-hosts of galls in Brazil?

We surveyed 58 scientific articles published between 1987 and 2018 to evaluate the representative nature of the Fabaceae as hosts of insect galls in Brazil, and to gain a better understanding of the interactions between gall-inducing insects and plants and the evolutionary ecology of those insects and their plant hosts. A total of 438 gall morphotypes were reported as being generated by gall-inducing insects on 178 Fabaceae host species belonging to five subfamilies Caesalpinioideae (22 genera and 79 spp.), Cercidoideae (1 genus and 11 spp.), Detarioideae (6 genera and 17 spp.), Dialioideae (2 genera and 2 spp.), and Papilionoideae (26 genera and 69 spp.). The plant host genera demonstrating the greatest richness of gall-inducing insects were Inga, Bauhinia, and Copaifera; the super-host species were Copaifera langsdorffii, Bauhinia brevipes, and Copaifera sabulicola. Most of the galls were observed on leaves; they were mostly globoid, green, glabrous, isolated, and unilocular. The principal gall inducers belonged to Cecidomyiidae; the associated fauna was represented by Collembola, Coleoptera, Diptera, Formicidae, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Pseudoscorpionida, and Thysanoptera. Fabaceae are the principal super-hosts of galls and one of the most diverse families of angiosperms in Brazil, aggregating evidences for the hypotheses of floristic richness and taxon size.