Fructification and damage to fruits and seeds of Sophora tomentosa L. on a sandbank of Joaquina beach, Florianópolis, SC

• Main Authors: Vera Lícia Vaz de Arruda, Elisa Maria Lisboa Nogueira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2006-12-01
• Series: Biotemas
• Subjects: fruit formation; seed predation; Leguminosae; Coleoptera
• Online Access: http://www.biotemas.ufsc.br/volumes/pdf/volume194/p41a48.pdf

This work was accomplished at the sandbank of Joaquina Beach on Santa Catarina Island, Florianópolis, SC. The rate of formation of Sophora tomentosa fruits from buttons was 25.4%. Out of the fruits actually formed, 28.9% failed to reach maturity and were eliminated by the plant. The fruits formed during the spring took 7.9 weeks to mature, and those formed during the autumn took about 11.1 weeks. The average length of the fruits collected in 2001 was 7.8cm, and in 2002 it was 9.2cm. In 2001 and 2002, the fruits presented a rate of predation by insects of 30% and 59%, respectively. The average quantity of seeds for fruit was 4.8 in 2001, and 6.2 in 2002. In 2001, 60.2% of the seeds presented some kind of damage, and in 2002, 42.5% of them did. The most common types of damage among the seeds were due to fungus (92.3%) and predator (53%) attack. Among the fruits of S. tomentosa, two beetles, Cryptophilus sp. (Cryptophagidae) and Acylomus sp. (Phalacridae), were found. A Cadra sp. (Pyralidae) moth emerged while the seeds were stored. A Myrmelachista sp. (Formicidae) ant and three species of Heterospilus (Braconidae) were also found.