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Evolution of a complex behavior: the origin and initial diversification of foliar galling by Permian insects

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Abstract

A central notion of the early evolution of insect galling is that this unique behavior was uncommon to rare before the diversification of angiosperms 135 to 125 m.yr. ago. However, evidence accumulated during recent years shows that foliar galls were diverse and locally abundant as early as the Permian Period, 299 to 252 m.yr. ago. In particular, a diversity of leaf galling during the Early Permian has recently been documented by the plant-damage record of foliar galls and, now, our interpretation of the body-fossil record of culprit insect gallers. Small size is a prerequisite for gallers. Wing-length measurements of Permian insects indicate that several small-bodied hemipteroid lineages originated early during the Permian, some descendant lineages of which gall the leaves of seed plants to the present day. The earliest foliar gallers likely were Protopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera) and Lophioneuridae (Thripida). Much of the Early Permian was a xeric interval, and modern galls are most common in dry, extra-tropical habitats such as scrubland and deserts. Plant-damage, insect body fossils, and the paleoclimate record collectively support the ecological expansion of foliar galling during the Early Permian and its continued expansion through the Late Permian.

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Acknowledgments

We thank William A. DiMichele, William O. Lamp, Charles Mitter, Jered Karr, and Peter Van Roy for discussions about the ideas presented in this paper. Olivier Béthoux and one anonymous reviewer provided important feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript. We acknowledge the Paleobiology Database as our source data, of which this is contribution no. XXX. This is contribution 275 of the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Consortium at the National Museum of Natural History.

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  1. Sandra R. Schachat

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology & Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013, USA

    Sandra R. Schachat & Conrad C. Labandeira

  2. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 0742, USA

    Sandra R. Schachat & Conrad C. Labandeira

  3. BEES Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Conrad C. Labandeira

  4. College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Conrad C. Labandeira

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  1. Sandra R. Schachat
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Correspondence to Conrad C. Labandeira.

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Communicated by: Beverley Glover

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Schachat, S.R., Labandeira, C.C. Evolution of a complex behavior: the origin and initial diversification of foliar galling by Permian insects. Sci Nat 102, 14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-015-1266-7

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