Richness of insect galls in Caatinga sites with different degrees of anthropogenic impact, Bahia State, Brazil

ABSTRACT The current knowledge of insect galls in Caatinga vegetation is still only fragmentary, with most scientific efforts concentrated in only a few areas in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia. In the present study, we characterized morphologically insect galls in areas of Caatinga vegetation showing different degrees of anthropogenic impact in Ibiassucê, state of Bahia. Three sites were selected based on their levels of human disturbance, and four random plots (10 m2 each), separated from each other by 10 m, were then established in each area, for a total of 12 plots. Twenty gall morphotypes were found on nine plant species belonging to eight families. The greatest gall diversity was found in sites showing intermediate levels of anthropogenic impacts (n=8), followed by heavily impacted areas (n=7), and preserved areas (n=5). Globoid galls, brown, with only a single chamber, glabrous, and separately disseminated were the most frequent. Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera (Cecidomyiidae) were the gall-forming insect orders. The results presented here show the importance of this kind of research and the need of inventories of galls in neglected Caatinga areas.