Abstract
Eighty wood samples representing 51 taxa in 33 genera of Leguminosae were collected in the Sinnamary River Basin in Northern French Guiana and evaluated for their fauna of longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae) and their phytochemical constituents. The cerambycid fauna was assessed using cut branches and trunks that were continuously observed for emerging beetles. Phytochemical patterns were determined in partially purified methanolic extracts that were obtained from wood and bark of the same branches and trunks using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). It was found that small groups of taxonomically related and often phytochemically similar plant species serve as host plants for small and well-defined longicorn guilds. Members of longicorn guilds are usually not taxonomically related. Host-plant chemistry appears to play a role in resource allocation among longicorn guilds in this lowland neotropical rainforest. These findings are discussed in reference to theories on coevolution and adaptive radiation in plant-insect associations.
Zusammenfassung
Insgesamt achtzig Holzproben, die im Becken des Sinnamary im nördlichen Französisch Guiana von 51 Taxa der Leguminosen entnommen wurden und insgesamt 33 Gattungen repräsentieren, wurden in Hinblick auf ihre Langhornkäferfauna (Cerambycidae) und ihre phytochemischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Gefällte Stämme wurden über die Dauer von vier Monaten hinweg beobachtet, um die schlüpfenden Langhornkäfer zu identifizieren. Die phytochemischen Profile wurden mittels Dünnschichtchromatographie (DC) und Hochdruckflüssigkeitschromatographie (HPLC) von methanolischen Extrakten charakterisiert, die von den Holzproben der frisch gefällten Stämmen angefertigt wurden. Die Resultate dieser Untersuchung zeigen, dass kleinere Gruppen taxonomisch verwandter und oft phytochemisch ähnlicher Leguminosenarten als Wirtspflanzen für kleine, aber gut beschreibbare Langhornkäfersippen dienen. Die Arten dieser Langhornkäfersippen zeigen oft keinerlei taxonomische Verwandtschaft. Daher kann angenommen werden, dass die phytochemischen Profile der Wirtspflanzen eine wichtige Rolle in der Nutzung und Erkennung von potentiellen Wirtspflanzen in diesem tiefliegenden Neotropischen Regenwald spielen. Diese Resultate werden im Hinblick auf die Theorien der Coevolution und der adaptiven Kolonisierung von Wirtspflanzen diskutiert.
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Meurer-Grimes, B., Tavakilian, G. Chemistry of cerambycid host plants. Part I: Survey of Leguminosae—A study in adaptive radiation. Bot. Rev 63, 356–394 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02856597
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02856597