Abstract
A literature compilation was done to gather information about Cecidomyiidae galls on Clusiaceae in Brazil. Botanical names were verified in the site "Flora do Brasil" as well as data on plant distribution and origin. Two herbaria were visited in order to examine galled specimens of Clusiaceae and retrieve new locality records. Thirteen gall morphotypes have been recorded on three genera (Clusia, Garcinia, and Tovomita) and eight species. Clusia showed the greatest number of galled species. Tovomita brevistaminea is the super host species. Only three gallers, Parazalepidota clusiae, Clusiamyia granulosa and C. nitida, were identified at species level, which highlights how the taxonomy of the gall midges is still poorly known. The examination of galled exsiccates resulted in the expansion of their distribution area. The low gall richness as well as the low number of galled plants on Clusiaceae can be related to the presence of resinous sticky sap and waxy cuticle. The known occurrence of gallers associated with Clusiaceae is restricted to the Atlantic Forest as their host plants. The gallers distribution is less wide than that of the host plants, indicating that their geographic limits can be further extended.
Highlights
Cecidomyiidae are one of the most speciose families of Diptera with more than 6,500 described species throughout the world (Gagné & Jaschhof 2017)
This paper aimed to answer the following questions - (1) how many cecidomyiid gall morphotypes have been recorded on Clusiaceae in Brazil? (2) which plant genera and species are the most galled? (3) what is known about the taxonomy of these gallers? and (4) what is known about their geographic distribution?
The host plant genera were Clusia L., Garcinia L., and Tovomita Aubl., the first genus showed the greatest number of galled species (n=5), followed by Garcinia and Tovomita
Summary
Cecidomyiidae are one of the most speciose families of Diptera with more than 6,500 described species throughout the world (Gagné & Jaschhof 2017). Most are gall-inducers, being associated with several plant families. They are the most common gallers in all zoogeographic region and each species is generally monophagous. About 92% of Brazilian species are species-specific (Carneiro et al 2009). Each species induces a gall morphotype with peculiar shape, size, color, and indumentum (Isaias et al 2013, 2014). This specificity allows that gall morphotype plus host plant species to be used as indicative of the galler’ presence (Carneiro et al 2009)
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