Abstract
Background: The term ‘super host’ plant is often used in the literature surrounding plant-galling interactions, but the different contexts in which the term is used generates doubt and confusion due to the absence of a systematic definition of the term’s meaning. Objective: In this study, we used 60 well-defined plant-galling assemblages to propose a systematic definition of super-host plants at the local and regional level. In addition, we investigated factors that explain the number of galling species per host plant at different geographic scales. Methods: Plant-galling assemblages were compiled from an extensive literature review on insect gall inventories carried out in Brazil. Results: We found 888 host plant species belonging to 94 families and 340 genera hosting 2,376 insect gall morphotypes. At a local scale, 33.2% of host plant species harbored one insect gall morphotype and 12.2% hosted two gall morphotypes, making up 45.4% of the host plant species in each locality. At the regional scale, 51.5% of host plant species harbored one insect gall morphotype, and 17.9% of host plant species hosted two gall morphotypes, corresponding to 69.4% of all host plant species. Based on the average number of galling species per plant species, we classified the plant species into: 1) Host species; 2) Multi-host species and 3) Super-host species. The super-host plant species that showed the greatest richness of gall morphotypes at the local level were Baccharis reticularia and Adenocalymma neoflavidu. Furthermore, we found a positive relationship between plant life-form architectural complexity and the number of galling species at the local level. At the regional scale, we registered five super-host species (Guapira opposita, Protium heptaphyllum, Copaifera langsdorffii, Myrcia splendens, and Byrsonima sericea) which hosted 21 or more insect gall morphotypes. The number of galling species per host plant species at the regional scale was influenced positively by geographic distribution rank and number of biomes in which each species of the plant occurs. Conclusion: The present study stands out as the first of its kind to provide a systematic standardization for the super-host plants and to investigate factors influencing these species.
Highlights
It is important to note that we compiled only inventories of the richness of host plants and galling insects, and we did not consider literature focused on a single species of plant or galling insect, to ensure that all studies included had searched for all galls occurring in the community. Only those studies with plant-gall insect assemblages that met all of the following criteria were included in our study: 1) At least 3 host plant species; 2) At least 3 host plants hosting a minimum of 3 galling insect species; and 3) An indication that all plants could potentially be utilized by the gall insect assemblages in the list
A total of 888 host plant species belonging to 94 families and 340 genera were analyzed hosting 2,376 insect gall morphotypes
We found a positive relationship between the life-form and the number of galling species at the local level (Deviance = 14.46, df = 1779, p < 0.001)
Summary
The number of galling insect species per host plant species is usually one or two, some host species can house more than 20 different galling species [8, 9]. In studies investigating plant-galling interactions in the Neotropical region, the term ‘super-host’ is frequently used to designate plant species that host a high richness of galling species [10]. Ribeiro et al [17] defined Moquiniastrum pulchrum (Asteraceae) as a super-host plant, by housing two galling species. These examples illustrate how the term ‘super-host’ is frequently used in galling insect studies, often in an indiscriminate and non-standardized way. The term ‘super host’ plant is often used in the literature surrounding plant-galling interactions, but the different contexts in which the term is used generates doubt and confusion due to the absence of a systematic definition of the term’s meaning
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