Insect galls associated with the super-hosts of genus Protium (Burseraceae) in Peruvian forests

ABSTRACT The genus Protium Burm.f. is known for being highly diverse in tropical forests and also for hosting a great diversity of insect galls. In this study we perform an inventory of the insect galls associated with Protium in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, Peru. We found 59 gall morphotypes, distributed across 13 Protium species. Protium decandrum (Aubl.) Marchand and Protium opacum Swart., with 10 morphotypes each, hosted the greatest gall richness. All the galls occurred on leaves, and the majority were globoid. We found galling insects belonging to Diptera and Thysanoptera. Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) were the most common gall-inducing insects, responsible for 37.3% of the gall morphotypes. All the recorded gall morphotypes represent first records for the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve.