Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)
Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the diversity of gall-midge insects (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), some of them taking into account plant diversity. This study aims to test the importance of size, age and composition of host plant taxa in the diversity of Cecidomyiidae. For this we used inv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Vicerractoría Investigación
2011-12-01
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| Series: | Revista de Biología Tropical |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442011000400014&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1797707304223637504 |
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| author | Walter S Araújo |
| author_facet | Walter S Araújo |
| author_sort | Walter S Araújo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the diversity of gall-midge insects (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), some of them taking into account plant diversity. This study aims to test the importance of size, age and composition of host plant taxa in the diversity of Cecidomyiidae. For this we used inventories data on the diversity of galling and host plants in Brazil. We found that Asterales, Myrtales and Malpighiales, were the most important orders, with 34, 33 and 25, gall morphotypes, respectively. The most representative host families were Asteraceae (34 morphotypes), Myrtaceae (23) and Fabaceae (22). In general, the order size and the plant family were good predictors of the galling diversity, but not the taxon age. The most diverse host genera for gall-midges were Mikania, Eugenia and Styrax, with 15, 13 and nine galler species, respectively. The size of plant genera showed no significant relationship with the richness of Cecidomyiidae, contrary to the prediction of the plant taxon size hypothesis. The plant genera with the greatest diversity of galling insects are not necessarily those with the greatest number of species. These results indicate that some plant taxa have a high intrinsic richness of galling insects, suggesting that the plant species composition may be equally or more important for the diversity of gall-midges than the size or age of the host taxon. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (4): 1599- 1607. Epub 2011 December 01. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:04:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1347c8816bbf4f079e72e48c483589fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0034-7744 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:04:26Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | Vicerractoría Investigación |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista de Biología Tropical |
| spelling | doaj.art-1347c8816bbf4f079e72e48c483589fd2023-09-03T03:41:16ZengVicerractoría InvestigaciónRevista de Biología Tropical0034-77442011-12-0159415991607S0034-77442011000400014Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)Walter S Araújo0Universidade Federal de GoiásMany hypotheses have been proposed to explain the diversity of gall-midge insects (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), some of them taking into account plant diversity. This study aims to test the importance of size, age and composition of host plant taxa in the diversity of Cecidomyiidae. For this we used inventories data on the diversity of galling and host plants in Brazil. We found that Asterales, Myrtales and Malpighiales, were the most important orders, with 34, 33 and 25, gall morphotypes, respectively. The most representative host families were Asteraceae (34 morphotypes), Myrtaceae (23) and Fabaceae (22). In general, the order size and the plant family were good predictors of the galling diversity, but not the taxon age. The most diverse host genera for gall-midges were Mikania, Eugenia and Styrax, with 15, 13 and nine galler species, respectively. The size of plant genera showed no significant relationship with the richness of Cecidomyiidae, contrary to the prediction of the plant taxon size hypothesis. The plant genera with the greatest diversity of galling insects are not necessarily those with the greatest number of species. These results indicate that some plant taxa have a high intrinsic richness of galling insects, suggesting that the plant species composition may be equally or more important for the diversity of gall-midges than the size or age of the host taxon. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (4): 1599- 1607. Epub 2011 December 01.http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442011000400014&lng=en&tlng=enagallasCecidomyiidaecomposición florísticahipótesisriqueza de plantassuperhospedeiras |
| spellingShingle | Walter S Araújo Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Revista de Biología Tropical agallas Cecidomyiidae composición florística hipótesis riqueza de plantas superhospedeiras |
| title | Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) |
| title_full | Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) |
| title_fullStr | Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) |
| title_short | Size, age and composition: characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) |
| title_sort | size age and composition characteristics of plant taxa as diversity predictors of gall midges diptera cecidomyiidae |
| topic | agallas Cecidomyiidae composición florística hipótesis riqueza de plantas superhospedeiras |
| url | http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442011000400014&lng=en&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT waltersaraujo sizeageandcompositioncharacteristicsofplanttaxaasdiversitypredictorsofgallmidgesdipteracecidomyiidae |