Abstract
Galling arthropods represent one of the most specialized herbivore groups. On an evolutionary scale, different taxa of insects and mites have convergently adapted to a galling lifestyle. In this study, we have used a multi-taxonomic approach to analyze the interaction specialization between gall-inducing mites and insects and their host plants in the Nitra City Park (Nitra, Slovakia). We used four ecological descriptors for describe plant-galling interactions: number of host plant species used by each arthropod species, galling specificity on host plant species (specificity), exclusivity of interactions between galling and plant species (specialization) and overlap of the interactions between arthropod species (similarity). We have found 121 species of gall-inducing arthropods, totaling 90 insects and 31 mites occurring on 65 host plant species. Our results reveal that mites have high specialization and low similarity of interactions in comparison to insects. A multiple-taxonomic comparison showed that these differences are triggered by gall-wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), the taxon with the lowest levels of specificity of plant-galling interactions (i.e., occurring on different host plant species). Our findings are indicative of different patterns of interaction between distinct gall-inducing arthropods taxa and their host plants, despite the ecological convergence of different taxa to a highly specialized herbivorous habitat.
Highlights
Gall-inducing organisms are considered to be the most sophisticated herbivores found in nature [1], given that they are the only herbivores capable of manipulating plant tissues inducing the formation of structures called galls [2,3,4]
We have sampled 121 species of gall-inducing arthropods occurring on 65 host plant species (Appendix A), totaling 90 species of insects and 31 species of mites (Table 1)
Gall-inducing insects were represented by nine families, with Cynipidae (Hymenoptera) with 27 species, Aphididae (Hemiptera) with 25 species, and Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) with 24 species appearing as the most specious taxa
Summary
Gall-inducing organisms are considered to be the most sophisticated herbivores found in nature [1], given that they are the only herbivores capable of manipulating plant tissues inducing the formation of structures called galls [2,3,4]. Bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and arthropods are capable of inducing galls in plants, but arthropods are undoubtedly the most diverse and studied galling group [5,6]. Diversity 2019, 11, 180 plant tissues form a capsule that houses totally or partially the gall-inducing arthropod inside [3], offering food to the arthropods, as well as shelter and protection against adverse environmental conditions and natural enemies [7]. Among the gall-inducing insects are the well-known species of the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Thysanoptera [3,9,10]. The highest number of gall-inducing species belongs to the orders Diptera and Hymenoptera [11]. Previous studies have documented the great variety of gall structures induced by numerous insect species belonging to the dipteran gall-midges of the family
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