title: Low host specificity and abundance of frugivorous lepidoptera in the lowland rain forests of Papua New Guinea.
abstract: We studied a community of frugivorous Lepidoptera in the lowland rainforest of Papua New Guinea. Rearing revealed 122 species represented by 1,720 individuals from 326 woody plant species. Only fruits from 52% (171) of the plant species sampled were attacked. On average, Lepidoptera were reared from 1 in 89 fruits and a kilogram of fruit was attacked by 1.01 individuals. Host specificity of Lepidoptera was notably low: 69% (33) of species attacked plants from >1 family, 8% (4) fed on single family, 6% (3) on single genus and 17% (8) were monophagous. The average kilogram of fruits was infested by 0.81 individual from generalist species (defined here as feeding on >1 plant genus) and 0.07 individual from specialist species (feeding on a single host or congeneric hosts). Lepidoptera preferred smaller fruits with both smaller mesocarp and seeds. Large-seeded fruits with thin mesocarp tended to host specialist species whereas those with thick, fleshy mesocarp were often infested with both specialist and generalist species. The very low incidence of seed damage suggests that pre-dispersal seed predation by Lepidoptera does not play a major role in regulating plant populations via density-dependent mortality processes outlined by the Janzen-Connell hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branisovska, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.|Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3436-0579
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sam
authors.affiliation: University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branisovska, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ctvrtecka
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America.
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America.
authors.forename: Margaret E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rosati
authors.affiliation: New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Molem
authors.affiliation: New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea.|The University of Papua New Guinea, Waigani, University, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea.|Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute, Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
authors.forename: Kipiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Damas
authors.affiliation: New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gewa
authors.affiliation: University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branisovska, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.|Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vojtech
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Novotny
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005638:Fruit / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology; D060434:Herbivory; D058507:Host Specificity; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000469:parasitology*; D065947:Rainforest; D012639:Seeds / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology