Galling insects in the Brazilian cerrado: Ecological patterns and perspectives

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been growing research interest in insect galls. Most of the processes and mechanisms related to ecological richness of galling insect-plant interactions have been investigated in the Cerrado. Therefore, several ecological hypotheses and patterns have been described in Cerrado. In this chapter we discuss: (a) a historical overview of studies with focus on insect galls from the Cerrado highlighting key studies and ecological issues; (b) galling insect richness and host plants, emphasizing especially the most representative taxa; (c) studies that have investigated the differential gall distribution between mesic and xeric environments, one of the most established and tested ecological hypotheses in the Cerrado; and finally (d) the main challenges and perspectives for future studies investigating patterns of galling insect richness in the Cerrado. We showed some mechanisms that are responsible by the high galling diversity in the Cerrado and discuss the main ecological hypothesis that explain these mechanisms.