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  • Host specialization and species richness of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a New Guinea rain forest

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    30118.pdf (176.9Kb)
    Author(s)
    Novotny, Vojtech
    Clarke, Anthony R.
    Drew, Dick
    Balagawi, Solomon
    Clifford, Barbara
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Drew, Dick A.
    Year published
    2005
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    Abstract
    Frugivorous dacine fruit flies were studied in a lowland tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea to determine their host specificity, abundance, and the number of species attacking various plant species. Plant species hosted 0-3 fruit fly species at median (1-3 quartile) densities of 1 (0-17) fruit flies per 100 fruits. Fruit flies were mostly specialized to a single plant family (83% species) and within each family to a single genus (88% species), while most of the species (66%) were able to feed on >1 congeneric plant species. Only 30 from the 53 studied plant species were colonized by fruit flies. The plant-fruit fly ...
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    Frugivorous dacine fruit flies were studied in a lowland tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea to determine their host specificity, abundance, and the number of species attacking various plant species. Plant species hosted 0-3 fruit fly species at median (1-3 quartile) densities of 1 (0-17) fruit flies per 100 fruits. Fruit flies were mostly specialized to a single plant family (83% species) and within each family to a single genus (88% species), while most of the species (66%) were able to feed on >1 congeneric plant species. Only 30 from the 53 studied plant species were colonized by fruit flies. The plant-fruit fly food web, including these 30 plant species and the total of 29 fruit fly species feeding on them, was divided into 14 compartments, each including 1-8 plant species hosting mutually disjunct assemblages of fruit flies. This structure minimizes indirect interactions among plant species via shared herbivores. The local species pool was estimated at 152ᳲ (ᓅ) fruit fly species. Forty per cent of all taxonomically described species known from Papua New Guinea were reared or trapped in our study area. Such a high proportion indicates low beta-diversity of fruit flies. Steiner traps were highly efficient in sampling the lure-responsive fruit fly species as they re-collected 84% of all species trapped in the same area 5 y before. Fruit fly monitoring by these traps is a cheap, simple and efficient method for the study of spatial and temporal changes in rain-forest communities.
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    Journal Title
    Journal of Tropical Ecology
    Volume
    21
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467404002044
    Copyright Statement
    © 2005 Cambridge University Press : Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher : This journal is available online - use hypertext links.
    Subject
    Ecology
    Anthropology
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/4396
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    • Journal articles

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