Phenological strategies of Byrsonima coccolobifolia (Malpighiaceae) and its associated galling Cecidomyiidae

Gall induction is a sophisticated adaptive strategy in ecological dynamics, which in the case of galling insects, demands the adjustment of their life cycles to the best host plant water and nutrient conditions. Such a hypothesis is herein tested in a Byrsonima coccolobifolia- Cecidomyiidae system, which was observed along 18 months. Ten individuals of B. coccolobifolia were marked and monitored in an area of Brazilian Savanna at Limeira farm in the municipality of Conceição do Pará, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The synchronism between host plant phenophases and gall development and their responses to climatic parameters were estimated. Byrsonima cocolobifolia is deciduous, and the associated galling Cecidomyiidae has a univoltine life cycle, and the phase of gall induction synchronized with the first leaf flushing. Variations in plant phenology in response to environmental parameters evidenced that vegetative and reproductive phases of B. coccolobifolia asynchronous with gall development may be a strategy to escape the competition with the Cecidomyiidae. Nevertheless, gall development synchronized with the B. coccolobifolia reproductive phase may have deviated the total allocation of photoassimilates to reproductive shoots but did not impair fruit formation, besides being able to follow the delay at the beginning of leaf flushing as a function of environmental variations.