Changes in leaf chlorophyll content associated with flowering and its role in the diversity of phytophagous insects in a tree species from a semiarid Caatinga

Phytophagous insects choose their feeding resources according to their own requirements, but their feeding preferences in the semiarid Caatinga have rarely been studied. Flowering trees leads to a greater diversity of flower visitors and their predators in the host plant, but little is known about w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2018-06, Vol.6, p.e5059-e5059, Article e5059
Main Authors: Sousa-Souto, Leandro, Bocchiglieri, Adriana, Dias, Douglas de M, Ferreira, Anthony S, Filho, José P de L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Animal behavior
Arthropods
Biodiversity
Biological diversity
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll content
Distribution
Ecology
Environmental aspects
Fabaceae
Feeding
Flowering
Flowers & plants
Food
Herbivores
Host plants
Inflorescence
Insects
Leaves
Magnoliophyta
Nitrogen
Phenology
Physiological aspects
Phytophagous insects
Plant Science
Poincianella pyramidalis
Predators
Quality
Species diversity
Trees
Tropical dry forest
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Summary:Phytophagous insects choose their feeding resources according to their own requirements, but their feeding preferences in the semiarid Caatinga have rarely been studied. Flowering trees leads to a greater diversity of flower visitors and their predators in the host plant, but little is known about why the diversity of phytophagous insects not associated with flowers is also increased. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diversity of sap-sucking, wood-boring and leaf-chewing insects associated with leaf chlorophyll content in flowering and non-flowering plants of , an endemic tree of Caatinga. We used a leaf chlorophyll index (LCI) as a surrogate for resource quality, and an entomological umbrella to collect phytophagous insects. We show that trees which bloomed demonstrated higher chlorophyll content, greater abundance and a significant difference in the composition of phytophagous insect species when compared to non-flowering trees (  
ISSN:2167-8359
2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.5059