Occurrence and characterization of insect galls at restinga áreas of Bertioga (São Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract

Studies on entomogenous galls at restinga areas in the State of São Paulo are very scarce, and the diversity of galling insects is completely unknown in these areas. In this study, we investigated restinga environments in Bertioga (S.P.) in order to contribute to the knowledge of the galls and the taxonomy of the galling insects in this State. Two hundred thirty three kinds of insect gall were found on 123 plant species and 48 families. The Myrtaceae and Asteraceae showed the greatest number of attacked species (14 and 13, respectively) and the greatest richness of galls (31 and 29, respectively). Most galls (about 60%) were observed on leaves. Galls of Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera e Thysanoptera were found, being the majority (about 57%) induced by Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). Other dwellers were found in 117 kinds of gall (about 50%): inquilinous; sucessors; predators and parasitoids. Among them, the parasitoids and the inquilinous were the most frequent ones. The parasitoids belong to eigth families of Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae, Platygastridae, Pteromalidae, Torymidae, Braconidae, Encyrtidae, Mymaridae and Eupelmidae, being the first three the most frequent ones. The inquilinous belong to five insect orders: Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Thysanoptera, being the Diptera the most frequent.