Food preference of insects in capoeira area in east of state of Maranhão, Brazil

Resumo

In the relation between plants and herbivores, both organisms developed along their evolutionary histories mediating mechanisms for these relationships. Considering that the present work had the objective to evaluate the herbivory food preference of plants by insects in an area of capoeira phytophysiognomy and the hypothesis tested was that insects prefer plants with lower leaf tenacity. The study was carried out in Caxias, Maranhão, Brazil, in November 2016, in which 600 leaves were analyzed with half of tenacious leaves and one of soft leaves. The chi-square test indicated an association between the variables tested pointing an occurrence of herbivory preference for plants with tenacious leaves.