Temporal distribution in a tri-trophic system associated with Piper amalago L. in a tropical seasonal forest

Author(s)

Cosmo, Leandro G. ^[1] ; Nascimento, Andre R. ^[1] ; Cogni, Rodrigo ^[2] ; Freitas, Andre V. L. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, Inst Biol, CP 6109, BR-13083970 Campinas - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ARTHROPOD-PLANT INTERACTIONS; v. 13, n. 4, p. 647-652, AUG 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Insect seasonality is a known pattern that has intrigued ecologists for over 30years. However, despite being well understood in general, for several taxa such as Lepidopteran caterpillars its underlying causes and mechanisms are still not fully understood. This is especially critical for Brazilian tropical forests where caterpillars have previously been shown to have a puzzling pattern of peaking in abundance only in the first months of the dry season; however, this pattern still lacks an explanation. Here, to advance our understanding of the factors underlying seasonal changes in caterpillar abundance in tropical forests, we addressed how the lepidopteran caterpillar community that feeds on Piper amalago L. plants, their host plants leaf numbers, the herbivory levels, and the parasitoid pressure all change throughout the dry and wet seasons in a Brazilian tropical semideciduous forest. We found that immature abundance and herbivory peak in the first 2months of the dry season and then rapidly decrease and remain low throughout the remaining of the dry season and the entire wet season at the study site. However, although the proportion of parasitized immatures increased alongside caterpillar abundance, it peaked in the month that followed a drastic decrease in caterpillar abundance. These results suggest that parasitoids play a major role in the observed caterpillar abundance pattern and thus, we propose the hypothesis that high parasitoid predation pressure causes early eclosion and emergence of caterpillars and primarily drives caterpillar abundance seasonality in Brazilian tropical forests. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/50225-3 - Natural history, phylogeny and conservation of Neotropical Lepidoptera
• Grantee: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/25991-0 - Ecological genomics of insects: climate adaptations and evolution of ecological interactions
• Grantee: Rodrigo Cogni
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/50316-7 - Dimensions US-Biota São Paulo: Chemically mediated multi-trophic interaction diversity across tropical gradients
• Grantee: Massuo Jorge Kato
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/01380-0 - Composition and abundance of lepidopteran larvae associated with Piper spp. (Piperales: Piperaceae) in the Mata de Santa Genebra, SP
• Grantee: Leandro Giacobelli Cosmo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation