Galling Insect Community Associated with Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae): The Role of Inter- and Intra-annual Host Plant Phenology

Abstract

Super-host plants of galling insects are important systems for hypotheses testing. Plant phenology directly affects the gall community through the synchronism between the target organs development and insect attack, or indirectly by promoting changes in plant resource quality and/or quantity. This study focus on the effects of inter- and intra-annual variations in plant phenology on the galling insect community associated with the host plant Copaifera langsdorffii. The species C. langsdorffii is a super-host of galling insect that have supra-annual fruiting and broadly intra-annual variation in phenology. Supra-annual fruiting affected the resource allocation among vegetative growth, reproduction and production of chemical defenses. The galling insect community changed between reproductive and non-reproductive years of C. langsdorffii. Moreover, leaf biomass and gall richness and abundance were also affected by intra-annual variation in plant phenology. Finally, the possible roles of plant phenology on gall community associated with C. langsdorffi are discussed.