Insect Seed Predation on Barro Colorado Island

The seeds of many woody plant species on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) are fed upon by insect seed predators—insects that develop inside the seed, killing it in the process. Studies conducted on BCI reveal that insect seed predation varies substantially in space and time as well as among plant species. A major rearing study (more than 200,000 seeds and fruits of 478 plant species and 369 species of insect seed predators) found that most insect species feed on a single local host plant species or a few closely related species. This suggests insect seed predators have the potential to contribute strongly to plant diversity maintenance, although they have received less attention than other plant enemy guilds. Given the strong foundation of prior work, the insect seed predators of BCI are an interesting and relevant target for future studies of plant diversity maintenance and the ecology and evolution of plant-enemy interactions.<p></p>