Flower-visiting insects of five tree species in a restored area of semideciduous seasonal forest

ABSTRACT

The reinstatement of biodiversity and ecological processes must be the major goal in restoration projects, which requires the establishment of biological interactions in addition to native plant population recovery. Therefore, we assessed the flower visitors of five tree species in a restored area of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest, in Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. The specimens were collected using entomological net on flowers of Acacia polyphylla, Aegiphila sellowianna, Croton floribundus, Croton urucurana and Schinus terebinthifolius from October 2007 to September 2008. A total of 139 insect species belonging to five orders were collected. Hymenoptera was the most diverse order collected. From a total of 37 families, Vespidae (15 species), Cabronidae (12), Apidae (10), Halictidae (10), Syrphidae (12), Tachinidae (6) and Hesperidae (7) were the richest ones. Schinus terebinthifolius flowers presented the most abundant and diverse insect visitors (60), suggesting it is an important attractive species to the fauna in restoration programs. Our data suggest that mutualistic interactions between some of these plants and their flower-visiting insects may be in a reinstatement process, and will support the design and monitoring of future restoration efforts.