Specialization of Jadera Species (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae) on the Seeds of Sapindaceae (Sapindales), and (Revolutionary Responses of Defense and Attack

Abstract

Feeding and breeding associations of five species of Jadera on 11 species of sapindaceous plants in the United States and Panama are described. Ecological notes are given for each species on its particular host plants. Nonsapindaceous plants used during reproductive diapause are also listed. The consistency with which Jadera use seeds of these plants for reproduction suggests that they are specialists on this plant family. This idea is supported by concordance in distributions of the insects and their host plants, presence in the plants of morphological and phenological characters that directly reduce impact of seed predators, and evidence of coevolution between mouthpart morphology and seed defense structures. This paper provides strong evidence that serinethine rhopalids evolved on host plants in the Sapindales.