THE EXTENT OF SEED PREDATION BY BRUCHINE BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE: BRUCHINAE) IN A HETEROGENEOUS LANDSCAPE IN SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Autor(es)

Rodrigues, Ligia M. S. ^[1] ; Viana, Jessica H. ^[2] ; Ribeiro-Costa, Cibele S. ^[2] ; Rossi, Marcelo N. ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ Unesp, Dept Bot, IB, BR-18618000 Botucatu, SP - Brazil

^[2] Fed Univ Parana UFPR, Dept Zool, BR-81531980 Curitiba, Parana - Brazil

^[3] Fed Univ Sao Paulo Unifesp, Dept Biol Sci, BR-09941510 Diadema, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN; v. 66, n. 3, p. 271-279, SEP 2012.
• Citações Web of Science: 9

Resumo

In this study, seed predation rates imposed by bruchines and the composition of bruchine species and their host plants were assessed in a heterogeneous landscape in southeastern Brazil. Fruits were collected from 49 plants from 16 species belonging to four families, primarily Fabaceae. The five bruchine species collected emerged from four plant species as follows: Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus (Schaeffer) from Leucaena leucocephala (Lamarck) de Wit, Acanthoscelides sp. from Senna hirsuta (L.) Irwin and Barneby, Ctenocolum podagricus (F.) from Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus Hassler, and Gibbobruchus polycoccus (Fahraeus) and Gibbobruchus speculifer (Gyllenhal) from Bauhinia forficata Link. Bauhinia forficata is here recorded for the first time as a host for G. polycoccus. Only 1/4 of the local flora that was surveyed hosted bruchines. Bruchine and plant species composition varied among habitats, with most beetles found in plants located in the most disturbed habitat. Because of the economic importance of L. leucocephala in the tropics, we compared germination percentages between attacked and unattacked seeds of this species. The unattacked seeds had an average germination rate of 59%, and none of the attacked seeds germinated, showing that the germination of L. leucocephala seeds was drastically affected by predation. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 06/58173-4 - Diversidade de bruquideos e dinamica espacial em populacoes de acanthoscelides schranckiae e seus parasitoides.
• Beneficiário: Ligia Maria da Silva Rodrigues
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Mestrado