Cigarras (hemiptera: cicadidae) no cerrado: análise de fauna e pulso de nutrientes

Abstract

Cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) are insects with body size ranging from medium to large. They are very common in the tropics and subtropics and emerge in high densities in their habitat. The aim of this study was to determine the cicada fauna present in two different Cerrado vegetation types (cerrado sensu stricto and gallery forest) in Goiás State and verify the level of soluble proteins and total lipids present in adults of Fidicina mannifera (Fabricius, 1803), to determine whether the species can promote a nutrient pulse to these environments. The study was conducted in agroextractivist unit located in the municipality of Diorama - GO, where there is vegetation types of dry grassland, paths, poultry portions, cerrado sensu stricto and gallery forest, being these last two predominant. The collected cicada species was represented by 13 species in gallery forest and 10 species in the cerrado sensu stricto , of which seven were new records for the Goiás State, namely: Fidicina mannifera, Carineta gemella, Majeorona aper, Carineta rufescens, Quesada gigas, Dorisiana drewseni, Fidicinoides poulaini. The specie F. mannifera was the most abundant in both vegetation types. The Shannon diversity index showed difference in the two vegetation types for the presence of species (p = 0,05). The data indicated that the gallery forest is more favorable environment for the presence of species of cicadas, which may be related to the greater structural complexity of this vegetation type compared to the cerrado sensu stricto. Biochemical analyzes showed no differences in the protein content identified in males and females of the species. On the other hand, F. mannifera females had 40% more lipid than males, a fact that is related to the fat reserves used for the production of eggs. For the months in which the samples were taken (September to December), the amount of individual nutrients that F. mannifera offered to predators increased in November and December, time of highest precipitation in the region . Although F. mannifera had a capacity to enrich the diet of opportunistic predators, it does not constitute a pulse resources for the studied area of Cerrado biome, because the amount of offered nutrients are under from the expected to be considered a pulse resource as described for cicadas from other species. This work also shows how the cicada fauna from Goiás is still little studied and unknown, and as the Cerrado vegetation types may influence the diversity of this group.