Number of the records: 1  

Low host specificity and abundance of frugivorous lepidoptera in the lowland rain forests of Papua New Guinea

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    SYSNO ASEP0471606
    Document TypeJ - Journal Article
    R&D Document TypeJournal Article
    Subsidiary JČlánek ve WOS
    TitleLow host specificity and abundance of frugivorous lepidoptera in the lowland rain forests of Papua New Guinea
    Author(s) Sam, Kateřina (BC-A) RID, ORCID
    Čtvrtečka, R. (CZ)
    Miller, S. E. (US)
    Rosati, M. E. (US)
    Molem, K. (PG)
    Damas, K. (PG)
    Gewa, B. (PG)
    Novotný, Vojtěch (BC-A) RID, ORCID
    Number of authors8
    Article numbere0171843
    Source TitlePLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science - ISSN 1932-6203
    Roč. 12, č. 2 (2017)
    Number of pages17 s.
    Languageeng - English
    CountryUS - United States
    Keywordsfrugivorous insect ; Lepidoptra ; rearing
    Subject RIVEH - Ecology, Behaviour
    OECD categoryEcology
    Institutional supportBC-A - RVO:60077344
    UT WOS000394682400022
    EID SCOPUS85013813243
    DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171843
    AnnotationWe studied a community of frugivorous Lepidoptera in the lowland rainforest of Papua New Guinea. In total, we reared 122 Lepidoptera species represented by 1,720 individuals from 326 woody plant species. We found that only fruits from 52% of the plant species were attacked. On average, Lepidoptera were reared from 1 in 89 fruits and a kilogram of fruit was attacked by 1.01 individuals. Host specificity of Lepidoptera was notably low: 69% of species attacked plants from >1 family, 8% fed on single family, 6% on single genus and 17% were monophagous. The average kilogram of fruits was infested by 0.81 individual from generalist species (defined here as feeding on >1 plant genus) and 0.07 individual from specialist species (feeding on a single host or congeneric hosts). Caterpillars preferred smaller fruits with both smaller mesocarp and seeds. Large-seeded fruits with thin mesocarp tended to host specialist species whereas those with thick, fleshy mesocarp were often infested with both specialist and generalist species. The very low incidence of seed damage suggests that predispersal seed predation by Lepidoptera does not play a major role in regulating plant populations via density-dependent mortality processes outlined by the Janzen-Connell hypothesis.
    WorkplaceBiology Centre (since 2006)
    ContactDana Hypšová, eje@eje.cz, Tel.: 387 775 214
    Year of Publishing2018
    Electronic addresshttp://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171843
Number of the records: 1  

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