Abstract
The scolytid beetle Cocotrypes carpophagus may attack as many as 100% of the seeds of the common Puerto Rican rainforest palm Euterpe globosa by the end of the fruiting season when the population densities of the beetle are their maximum. At the beginning of fruit fall, the percentage attack is extremely small. It is hypothesized that the build—up of this seed predator on the crop each year is the selective force producing the strong inter—tree fruiting synchrony displayed by E. globosa. Further, this synchrony appears to prevent the beetle from depressing the palm population density to the low level characteristic of most tropical trees. It is also hypothesized that such a beetle—palm interaction could not occur on the mainland of Central America owing to the difficulty of satiating the large mainland community of vertebrates and insects that prey on palm seeds.
Keywords
PalmPuerto ricanBiologyArecaceaeRainforestPopulationPredationTropical rainforestEcologyBotanyHorticulture
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1972
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 258-261
- Citations
- 50
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Daniel H. Janzen
(1972).
Association of a Rainforest Palm and Seed‐Eating Beetles in Puerto Rico.
Ecology
, 53
(2)
, 258-261.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1934079
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.2307/1934079