The diversity of Cassidinae and their host plants in the Serra do Japi: data base for a future network of trophic interactions

• Grant number: 23/00294-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: João Vasconcellos Neto
• Grantee: Felipe Capoccia Coelho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Insects are the most diverse living beings on the planet, essential for the proper functioning of ecosystems. The co-evolution with the Angiosperms group made this high diversification possible, making it impossible to study the diversity and conservation of these animals without considering the interactions they establish with plants. The Cassidinae subfamily is one of the most diverse of insects, composed exclusively of phytophagous beetles that have high host plant specificity. However, it is an understudied group, with very few survey studies of species and a significant lack of knowledge of which are the host plants of the vast majority of species. In this study, we will investigate (i) which are the species of Cassidinae from Serra do Japi and (ii) which are their host plants; (iii) we will also verify if the species of Cassidinae found are mono or oligophagous and (iv) if different species of these beetles occupy the same host plants. We expect that most of the Cassidine species found are monophagous, but that the majority of recorded individuals are oligophagous species or monophagous species whose host plants are abundant. We also predicted that there should be overlapping of plants occupied by different beetle species, generating competition between them. We believe that, in the future, these data should allow us to generate a trophic network of interactions for the subfamily Cassidinae and its host plants.