Abstract
The caatinga vegetation is an important natural laboratory for the study of how plants and gall-inducing insects interact in highly variable and stressful moisture regimes. Despite this, only five gall inventories have been conducted and its richness of inducing insects and host plants has been little known. To contribute to our knowledge of galls from caatinga habitats, we registered and characterized the macroscopic aspects of the galls, then identifed the plant hosts and their associated fauna in two areas of caatinga in São Francisco River Natural Monument (MONA). Nineteen morphotypes of galls were recorded on 11 plant belonging to eight genera and six host plant families. Of the total number of galls recorded, most occurred in the rainy season (n=13). Most of the galls are globoid (n=10), pilose (n=10), green (n=15), and isolated (n=12). Most of the gall-inducing insect species found belonged to Diptera (Cecidomyiidae). All morphotypes recorded in this study are the first ones recorded of galls and their host plants in MONA. We also recorded, for the first time, the occurrence of galls in the floral buds of Cnidoscolus obtusifolius Pohl ex Baill. (Euphorbiaceae), demonstrating the importance of conducting studies in areas not yet sampled in the Caatinga biome. It is expected that this study will stimulate future investigations, helping in the protection and conservation of this conservation area and consequently increasing our knowledge about its biodiversity.
Funder
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia
Reference19 articles.
1. ABDULRAHAMAN, A. A.; OLADELE F. A. Response of trichomes to water stress in two species of Jatropha. Insight Botany, v.1, p. 15–21, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5567/BOTANY-IK.2011.15.21
2. ABRAHAMSON, W. G.; WEIS, A. E. Evolutionary ecolog y across three trophic levels: goldenrods, gall makers and natural enemies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1997. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/9780691209432
3. ALCÂNTARA, J. A.; SOUZA, E. B.; BRAGA, P. E. T. Ocorrência e caracterização de galhas em duas áreas do noroeste do Ceará, Brasil. Natureza on line, v.15, n. 1, p. 33–40, 2017.
4. BFG - The Brazil Flora Group. Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network. Taxon, v. 71, p. 178-198, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12640
5. BRITO, G. P.; COSTA, E. C.; CARVALHO-FERNANDES, S. P.; SANTOS-SILVA, J. (2018) Riqueza de galhas de insetos em áreas de Caatinga com diferentes graus de antropização do Estado a Bahia, Brasil. Iheringia, série Zoologia, v. 108, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4766e2018003