Item

Abstract

Six trees of the palm species Attalea phalerata Mart. were sampled during high water (aquatic phase) of the Pantanal of Mato Grosso (February 2001), by canopy fogging. The composition, structure, and biomass of the arthropod community associated with their canopies were analysed, as well as the influence the flood pulse renders on it. Each tree was fogged once, followed by three consecutive collections. A total of 63,657 arthropods (643.0 ± 259.87 ind/m2) were collected, representing 25 orders in the classes Insecta, Arachnida, Diplopoda and Crustacea. The dominant groups were Acari (40.0%; 257.2 ± 116.50 ind./m2), Coleoptera (12.0%; 77.5 ± 64.93 ind./m2), Psocoptera (9.2%; 59.0 ± 38.00 ind./m2), Diptera (8.4%; 54.1 ± 18.72 ind./m2), Collembola (8.3%; 53.4 ± 26.24 ind./m2) and Hymenoptera (7.9%; 50.6 ± 21.40 ind./m2), the latter mostly represented by Formicidae (49.2%). Arthropod biomass amounted to 8.86 g dry weight and 0.18 mg/m2. Coleoptera, Blattodea, Orthoptera, Araneae and Hymenoptera were the most representative taxa. The hydrological regime (flood pulse), as well as seasonality, appear to strongly affect the composition and structure of this canopy community.