Richness of gall-inducing insects in the tropical dry forest (caatinga) of Pernambuco

• Main Authors: Jean Carlos Santos, Jarcilene Silva de Almeida-Cortez, G. Wilson Fernandes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia 2011-03-01
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Entomologia
• Subjects: Cecidomyiidae; galhas entomógenas; insetos herbívoros; plantas hospedeiras; riqueza de espécies
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0085-56262011000100009&lng=en&tlng=en

Diversity of gall-inducing insects in the tropical dry forest (caatinga) of Pernambuco. We report on the richness of galling insects in the vegetation of caatinga of Pernambuco state, Brazil. We recorded 64 different types of galls collected primarily from leaves and stems of 48 species of host plants belonging to 17 families and 31 genera. The most common gall morphological types were spheroid and discoid, glabrous, predominantly green and with one chamber. The main gall inducing taxon was the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). The results of this study contribute to existing knowledge of galling insect and host-plant diversity in caatinga.