Seed predation in Acacia mearnsii De Wild. (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae).

• Main Authors: Ervandil Corrêa Costa, Leonardo da Silva Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2009-06-01
• Series: Biotemas
• Subjects: black wattle; Bruchinae; Stator limbatus; seed-feeding insects
• Online Access: http://www.biotemas.ufsc.br/volumes/pdf/volume222/39a44.pdf

This work aimed to identify the predator insect of seeds of Acacia mearnsii De Wild. (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) (black wattle), characterizing the damage inflicted and levels of occurrence over the long term. Therefore, biweekly collections of seed pods were taken in the forest of black wattle situated in the municipal district of Minas do Leão, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was verified that Stator limbatus (Horn, 1873) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) was responsible for the predation by attacking 44.3% of the collected seeds and consuming 60.4% of the weight of these seeds. The highest incidence of S. limbatus adults occurred in January.