Two new species of Allorhogas (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Doryctinae) from southeast Brazil reared from seed pods of Inga vera Willd. and Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) (Fabaceae).

Two new species of Allorhogas (Braconidae: Doryctinae), Al. lavraensis sp. nov and Al. margitae sp. nov., which were reared from seed pods of Fabaceae species, are described from southeast Brazil. Allorhogas lavraensis forms seed galls on Inga vera Willd., whereas Al. margitae predates on seeds of Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) without making galls. The latter represents the first report of seed predation by a species of Allorhogas on the genus Anadenanthera.

The sensitivity of complex dynamic food webs to the loss of top omnivores.

Theoretical studies have attempted to predict the effects of losing species and their relative importance to community-level processes, but little attention has been paid to specific interaction types such as omnivory and the trophic level of extinct species. Here, we use complex food web models to assess the importance of omnivores to community-level stability. We simulated food webs with varying size and complexity so we could remove omnivores from different trophic levels and track the fates of communities. Results show that food webs were more sensitive to the loss of omnivores from higher trophic levels, aside from the effects of network size and complexity on food web stability. These results underline the importance of omnivory by introducing dynamic switching across multiple energy paths. We expect this paper to shed light on additional factors that are fundamental when modelling extinctions such as the trophic level of lost species.

A new interaction in an invasive plant in Brazil: Horismenus abnormicaulis (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) parasitizing Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) in seeds pods of Leucaena leucocephala (Fabaceae)

ABSTRACT The parasitism of Acanthoscelides macrophthalmus (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) by the parasitoid Horismenus abnormicaulis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is described for the first time. We harvested 90 Leucaena leucocephala (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) fruit pods, in June 2019 on the campus of the Federal University of Lavras in the municipality of Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. We found 21 individuals of H. abnormicaulis and 334 of A. macrophthalmus. The presence of cephalic capsule of beetle's pupa and evidence of predation into seed pods from which the wasps emerged suggested H. abnormicaulis is a parasitoid of A. macrophthalmus. Horismenus abnormicaulis has been added to the list of A. macrophthalmus parasitoids, and its occurrence has been expanded to the state of Minas Gerais. This discovery expands our knowledge of H. abnormicaulis biology and distribution in Brazil, as well as the tri-trophic interaction, plant-herbivore-parasitoid in invasive plant systems.

Can multitrophic interactions shape morphometry, allometry, and fluctuating asymmetry of seed-feeding insects?

Body size is commonly associated with biological features such as reproductive capacity, competition, and resource acquisition. Many studies have tried to understand how these isolated factors can affect the body pattern of individuals. However, little is known about how interactions among species in multitrophic communities determine the body shape of individuals exploiting the same resource. Here, we evaluate the effect of fruit infestation, parasitism rate, and seed biomass on size, allometric and asymmetric patterns of morphological structures of insects that exploit the same resource. To test it, we measured 750 individuals associated with the plant Senegalia tenuifolia (Fabaceae), previously collected over three consecutive years. Negative allometry was maintained for all species, suggesting that with increasing body size the body structure did not grow proportionally. Despite this, some variations in allometric slopes suggest that interactions in a multitrophic food web can shape the development of these species. Also, we observed a higher confidence interval at higher categories of infestation and parasitism rate, suggesting a great variability in the allometric scaling. We did not observe fluctuating asymmetry for any category or species, but we found some changes in morphological structures, depending on the variables tested. These findings show that both allometry and morphological trait measurements are the most indicated in studies focused on interactions and morphometry. Finally, we show that, except for the fluctuating asymmetry, each species and morphological structure respond differently to interactions, even if the individuals play the same functional role within the food web.

Matching consumer feeding behaviours and resource traits: a fourth-corner problem in food-web theory.

For decades, food web theory has proposed phenomenological models for the underlying structure of ecological networks. Generally, these models rely on latent niche variables that match the feeding behaviour of consumers with their resource traits. In this paper, we used a comprehensive database to evaluate different hypotheses on the best dependency structure of trait-matching patterns between consumers and resource traits. We found that consumer feeding behaviours had complex interactions with resource traits; however, few dimensions (i.e. latent variables) could reproduce the trait-matching patterns. We discuss our findings in the light of three food web models designed to reproduce the multidimensionality of food web data; additionally, we discuss how using species traits clarify food webs beyond species pairwise interactions and enable studies to infer ecological generality at larger scales, despite potential taxonomic differences, variations in ecological conditions and differences in species abundance between communities.

Prey dynamics under generalist predator culling in stage structured models.

In this paper, by means of mathematical dynamical models we investigate the impacts of predator culling on a prey population structured in two stage classes, juveniles and adults, assuming stage specific predation by two generalist predators with functional responses types 2 and 3 in all possible combinations. According to the chosen set of parameter values, these impacts can manifest through possible demographic Allee effects, sustained population oscillations, alternative stable states (e.g., predator-pit-like behavior) and Hydra effect, which are all discussed, in turn, in terms of species conservation, harvest yield and pest biological control.

The interplay between population stability and food-web topology predicts the occurrence of motifs in complex food-webs.

In this paper, we analyzed the occurrence of motifs (modules) in empirical food-webs from different ecosystem types. Differently from previous studies, our analysis did not relied on randomized networks with specific a priori assumptions, which has been demonstrated to produce inconsistent patterns. We aimed to evaluate the interplay between population dynamics and food-web topology, and its consequences to module occurrences in complex food-webs. We evaluated 13 arrangements of three-species modules and 199 arrangements of four-species modules. For each module, we assembled, a corresponding Jacobian predation matrix, and evaluated the arrangements expected to persist after a disturbance in the equilibrium of the populations dynamics (local stability). Our general results were that (1) a limited set of stable arrangements occurs most frequently; (2) the omnivory module is the only three-species module expected to occur both in the stable and unstable region; (3) connectance and omnivory affects the proportion of stable modules; and (4) the type of ecosystem influence the proportion of stable modules. Further, we demonstrated that food-web topology and population dynamics influenced module occurrences in natural communities; presented a function for the ways that local stability increases the probability of module occurrence; and highlighted the use of omnivory degree to access the effect of feeding at more than one trophic level on food-web stability.

The interplay between predator's prey preference and environmental heterogeneity in food web long-term stability.

Prey preference of a predator is commonly used in models to analyze the timely issue of the relation among food web structure, diversity and stability. Given the variety of these terms in ecological literature, this work shows that domains of stability and species coexistence in food webs can be significantly altered by the chosen structure of predator's prey preference and environmental heterogeneity. Such results may bear upon issues in applied ecology, e.g., species conservation, biological control. More generally, they may serve as a caution with respect to the robustness of some results of food web theory.

Larval predation on different instars in blowfly populations

Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae) é uma predadora facultativa sobre outras moscas-varejeiras, durante o terceiro instar larval. Nesse estudo, nos investigamos a taxa de predação de C. albiceps sobre larvas de primeiro, segundo e terceiro instar de C. megacephala e C. macellaria comparando a vulnerabilidade dos instares larvais frente à predadora. Para as presas de primeiro e segundo instar, C. albiceps apresentou maior taxa de predação sobre C. megacephala. Já sobre larvas de terceiro instar a predadora consumiu mais C. macellaria. O comportamento de C. albiceps sobre as duas espécies de presas sugere uma mudança na estratégia de forrageio da predadora e essa mudança pode ter influencia sobre a comunidade de dípteros necrófagos.

Larval dispersal and predation in experimental populations of Chrysomya albiceps and Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

In this study we investigated the larval dispersal associated with larval predation in experimental populations of Chrysomya albiceps and Cochliomyia macellaria. Frequency distribution of sampling units (G test) in the substrate was used to evaluate variation in larval dispersal. An experimental acrylic channel (1 x 0.1 x 0.2 m) covered with wood shavings was used to observe larval dispersal prior to pupation. The acrylic channel was graduated at 0.05 m intervals, each representing a sampling unit; hence, 20 sampling units were set up. A Petri dish containing third instar larvae of single and double species was deposited at one edge of the acrylic channel allowing larvae to disperse. The number of buried pupae (0, 1, 2, àn) present in each sampling unit was recorded. For double species, the number of recovered larvae of C. albiceps was similar to the number initially released on the dish Petri. On the other hand, the number of recovered larvae of C. macellaria was significantly smaller than the initially released number. The results show that C. albiceps attacks C. macellaria larvae during the larval dispersal process. The larval distribution of C. albiceps did not differ significantly from C. macellaria in double species, but it differed significantly in single species. The larval aggregation level of C. macellaria decreased when C. albiceps was present and the larval aggregation level of C. albiceps increased when C. macellaria was present. The implications of such findings for the population dynamics of these species are discussed

Larval dispersal and predation in experimental populations of Chrysomya albiceps and Cochliomyia macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

In this study we investigated the larval dispersal associated with larval predation in experimental populations of Chrysomya albiceps and Cochliomyia macellaria. Frequency distribution of sampling units (G test) in the substrate was used to evaluate variation in larval dispersal. An experimental acrylic channel (1 x 0.1 x 0.2 m) covered with wood shavings was used to observe larval dispersal prior to pupation. The acrylic channel was graduated at 0.05 m intervals, each representing a sampling unit; hence, 20 sampling units were set up. A Petri dish containing third instar larvae of single and double species was deposited at one edge of the acrylic channel allowing larvae to disperse. The number of buried pupae (0, 1, 2, n) present in each sampling unit was recorded. For double species, the number of recovered larvae of C. albiceps was similar to the number initially released on the dish Petri. On the other hand, the number of recovered larvae of C. macellaria was significantly smaller than the initially released number. The results show that C. albiceps attacks C. macellaria larvae during the larval dispersal process. The larval distribution of C. albiceps did not differ significantly from C. macellaria in double species, but it differed significantly in single species. The larval aggregation level of C. macellaria decreased when C. albiceps was present and the larval aggregation level of C. albiceps increased when C. macellaria was present. The implications of such findings for the population dynamics of these species are discussed.

Prey choice by facultative predator larvae of Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

In this study we investigated predation rates on third instar larvae of Chrysomya putoria and C. megacephala by third instar larvae of C. albiceps in a two-choice situation. The highest predation rate occurred on C. putoria larvae and this result is compared to previous experiments, in which C. macellaria larvae were present. Our results suggest that, when C. macellaria is absent C. albiceps larvae attack more C. putoria than C. megacephala larvae. Prey choice decisions and its implications for introduced and native blowflies are discussed