Flower visiting insects of Melastoma in Taiwan

Study Extent

Established in 1990, Fushan Botanical Garden (FBG) (24°45'21.2"N 121°35'43.5"E) is located in the mountain area in the northeast part of Taiwan Island. The garden is part of the Fushan Experimental Forest, which covers approximately 1,098 ha.

Sampling

Diversity data of flower visiting insects to Melastome were obtained biweekly at FBG from May 07, 2020 to August 19, 2020. Four melastome species were picked, namely Melastoma affine D. Don, M. candidum D. Don, M. intermedia Dunn, and M. scaberrima (Hayata) Yang & Liu, 2002. For M. candidum, we included both the typical purple-flowered form and the white-flowered variant (M. candidum var. albiflorum). Melastoma affine is the only native melastome species known in this area. Ten wild M. affine individuals were selected along the trails adjacent to the nursery. For the rest species, including the white flower variant of M. candidum, 10-15 planted individuals for each type/species in the nursery were selected. For each survey session, observation of insects began from c. 45 mins from the sunrise and usually ended at 11:00 am for 2 consecutive days. Additional records of flower visiting insects out of the regular survey time were also included to maximize our understanding of the diversity of flower visiting insects. Taxa and behaviors (see the next section for the details) of insects with body length > 3 mm on the adaxisal surface of flowers were recorded. Insects were identified visually in the field to at least family level. For insects that cannot be identified in the field, a few samples of each morpho species were collected using a butterfly hand net. All Insect species were identified morphologically following existing keys (Starr 1992, Dubitzky et al. 2008, Hsu et al. 2018) and by comparisons with the insect specimen collection in Taiwan Forestry Research Institute.

Method steps

1. Diversity data of flower visiting insects to Melastome were obtained biweekly at FBG from May 07, 2020 to August 19, 2020. Four melastome species were picked, namely Melastoma affine D. Don, M. candidum D. Don, M. intermedia Dunn, and M. scaberrima (Hayata) Yang & Liu, 2002. For M. candidum, we included both the typical purple-flowered form and the white-flowered variant (M. candidum var. albiflorum). Melastoma affine is the only native melastome species known in this area. Ten wild M. affine individuals were selected along the trails adjacent to the nursery. For the rest species, including the white flower variant of M. candidum, 10-15 planted individuals for each type/species in the nursery were selected. For each survey session, observation of insects began from c. 45 mins from the sunrise and usually ended at 11:00 am for 2 consecutive days. Additional records of flower visiting insects out of the regular survey time were also included to maximize our understanding of the diversity of flower visiting insects. Taxa and behaviors (see the next section for the details) of insects with body length > 3 mm on the adaxisal surface of flowers were recorded. Insects were identified visually in the field to at least family level. For insects that cannot be identified in the field, a few samples of each morpho species were collected using a butterfly hand net. All Insect species were identified morphologically following existing keys (Starr 1992, Dubitzky et al. 2008, Hsu et al. 2018) and by comparisons with the insect specimen collection in Taiwan Forestry Research Institute.

63 insect species belong to 7 orders that associated with 5 Melastoma plant species, including a horticultural hybrid

1. Insecta
   common name: insect rank: class
2. Coleoptera
   common name: beetle rank: order
3. Hymenoptera
   common name: bee, wasp, hornet rank: order
4. Diptera
   common name: fly, midge rank: order
5. Hemiptera
   common name: bug, plant hopper rank: order
6. Lepidoptera
   common name: moth, butterfly, caterpillar rank: order
7. Blattodea
   common name: cockroach rank: order
8. Orthoptera
   common name: grasshopper, cricket rank: order

Fushan Botanical Garden, Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan