Preferência alimentar de Phylloicus sp. (Insecta: Trichoptera): trabalho experimental com espécies vegetais do Cerrado

Abstract

Aquatic insects of the genus Phylloicus play an essential role in aquatic ecosystems, fragmenting leaves and contributing to nutrient cycling in streams. Therefore, this genus is often used in laboratory experiments. However, in Cerrado regions such as Araguaia, these works are unfeasible as basic aspects such as their dietary preference for local plants are not known. Therefore, our objective is to answer which plant species native to the Araguaia region are preferred for Phylloicus food. We carried out experimental work comparing the consumption of three plant species native to the Cerrado: Casearia sylvestris, Astronium fraxinifolium and Ficus guaranitica by Phylloicus. To assess differences in consumption, we performed an Analysis of Variance. The results obtained revealed that Phylloicus larvae demonstrated a food preference for Casearia sylvestris (F= 9.71; p= 0.004). This finding will help in the development of future experimental work using Phylloicus in the Araguaia region, since it is essential to know the food preferences of the animals used in the experiments for their maintenance in the laboratory.