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Adroit B, Hazra T, Denk T, Kumar Sarkar S, Khan MA. Rich specialized insect damage on Pliocene leaves from the Mahuadanr Valley (India) growing under a warm climate with weak seasonality. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11114. [PMID: 38469042 PMCID: PMC10927363 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Plant-insect interactions play a crucial role in shaping terrestrial ecosystems, influencing abundance and distribution of plant species. In the present study, we investigated leaf-mining patterns on fossil leaves from Pliocene strata of the Mahuadanr Valley, Jharkhand, eastern India, deposited under a seasonal tropical climate, and reported complex interactions between plants and insects. We identified 11 distinct mining morphotypes. These morphotypes were mainly found on Dipterocarpaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, and Moraceae; similar mining traces were also observed in the contemporary vegetation surrounding the fossil site. Although mining richness was relatively high, only 2.6% of all leaves in the fossil assemblage were mined. We compared mining richness and abundance values with previously reported values for galling. While richness was slightly lower for galling, almost 50% of all fossil leaves were galled. A literature survey on mining and galling patterns in modern vegetation suggests that there is no global explanation for richness of mining or gall-inducing insects. Thus, low nutrient availability in the ancient forest, dominance of semideciduous leaves with hard texture, and different habitats in the same forest ecosystem, such as well-drained forests and riparian stands, may all have favored different types of specialized plant-insect interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Adroit
- Department of PalaeobiologySwedish Museum of Natural HistoryStockholmSweden
- IMBE, Aix Marseille Univ, Avignon Univ, CNRS, IRDMarseilleFrance
| | - Taposhi Hazra
- Palaeobotany‐Palynology Laboratory, Department of BotanySidho‐Kanho‐Birsha UniversityPuruliaIndia
| | - Thomas Denk
- Department of PalaeobiologySwedish Museum of Natural HistoryStockholmSweden
| | - Subhankar Kumar Sarkar
- Entomology Laboratory, Department of ZoologyUniversity of KalyaniKalyani, NadiaWest BengalIndia
| | - Mahasin Ali Khan
- Palaeobotany‐Palynology Laboratory, Department of BotanySidho‐Kanho‐Birsha UniversityPuruliaIndia
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Knecht RJ, Swain A, Benner JS, Emma SL, Pierce NE, Labandeira CC. Endophytic ancestors of modern leaf miners may have evolved in the Late Carboniferous. New Phytol 2023; 240:2050-2057. [PMID: 37798874 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Endophytic feeding behaviors, including stem borings and galling, have been observed in the fossil record from as early as the Devonian and involve the consumption of a variety of plant (and fungal) tissues. Historically, the exploitation of internal stem tissues through galling has been well documented as emerging during the Pennsylvanian (c. 323-299 million years ago (Ma)), replaced during the Permian by galling of foliar tissues. However, leaf mining, a foliar endophytic behavior that today is exhibited exclusively by members of the four hyperdiverse holometabolous insect orders, has been more sparsely documented, with confirmed examples dating back only to the Early Triassic (c. 252-250 Ma). Here, we describe a trace fossil on seed-fern foliage from the Rhode Island Formation of Massachusetts, USA, representing the earliest indication of a general, endophytic type of feeding damage and dating from the Middle Pennsylvanian (c. 312 Ma). Although lacking the full features of Mesozoic leaf mines, this specimen provides evidence of how endophytic mining behavior may have originated. It sheds light on the evolutionary transition to true foliar endophagy, contributes to our understanding of the behaviors of early holometabolous insects, and enhances our knowledge of macroevolutionary patterns of plant-insect interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Knecht
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Anshuman Swain
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
| | - Jacob S Benner
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Steve L Emma
- Independent Researcher, Providence, RI, 02908, USA
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Conrad C Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
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Davis DR, De Prins J. Systematics and biology of the new genus Macrosaccus with descriptions of two new species (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae). Zookeys 2011:29-82. [PMID: 21594070 PMCID: PMC3095132 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.98.925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2011] [Accepted: 03/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The new genus Macrosaccus Davis & De Prins is proposed for three species formerly assigned to the genus Phyllonorycter: Macrosaccus robiniella (Clemens), Macrosaccus morrisella (Fitch), and Macrosaccus uhlerella (Fitch); two new, closely related species: Macrosaccus neomexicanus Davis and Macrosaccus gliricidius Davis, are also proposed. Descriptions of the adults, pupae, larvae, life histories, and distributions are supplemented with photographs, line drawings, and scanning electron micrographs. Larvae of all species are serpentine/blotch leaf miners on various genera of the plant family Fabaceae. The genus is endemic to the New World, with the invasive species Macrosaccus robiniella now widely established in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald R Davis
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012 MRC 105, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, U.S.A
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