Galling insects on neotropical species of Baccharis (Asteraceae)

We report on the insect galls on neotropical species of Baccharis (Asteraceae) and describe new kinds of galls on Baccharis spp. of the cerrado and rupestrian fields of Brazil. Gall collections were made in several localities in Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Caratinga, Lagoa Santa, Moeda, Ouro Preto, and Serra do Cipo). Baccharis may support the richest galling fauna of the neotropics (121 galling species on only 40 species of Baccharis). Nevertheless, gallers were not evenly distributed across host plant species. Four species of Baccharis alone supported 46% of the galling fauna. The most diverse fauna occurred on B. dracunculifolia (17 galls), B. concinna (15 galls), B. salicifolia (13 galls) and Baccharis sp. 1 (11 galls). The most numerous galling taxa were, in decreasing order, Cecidomyiidae (Diptera), Lepidoptera (several Gelechiidae), Psyllidae (Homoptera), and Tephritidae (Diptera). The most diverse gall communities were on Baccharis species that inhabit harsh environments, such as B. concinna in the rupestrian fields of Minas Gerais, B. salicifolia in the dry chaco vegetation of Argentina, and B. dracunculifolia and Baccharis sp. 1 of the cerrado of Lagoa Santa in Minas Gerais.