Building of leaf shelters is a widespread behavior among microlepidopteran larvae. Apparently, these shelters provide refuge to caterpillars against bad weather and reduce the risks of predation and parasitism. Recent studies about nutritional ecology of insects have suggested that such behavior would actually be an strategy evolutionarily selected to maximize the quality of the host plant consumed by them. Stenoma scitiorella Walker caterpillars tie together young Xylopia aromatica (Lam.) Mart. (Annonaceae) leaves to build a shelter in which they retreat, feeding exclusively on inner leaves. The accumulation of damage and excrement in leaf shelters with several caterpillars may lead to a decline in larval development and survivorship. For providing the best conditions for larval development most leaf shelters (53,4%) are occupied by only one caterpillar. Although altering the water and soluble carbohydrates contents, the building of shelters did not affect either the tannins concentrations or the preference of caterpillars for external or internal leaves. Hence, probably this behavior does not denote an adaptative strategy of the insect to overcome the host plant chemical defenses. Thus, it is possible that the leaf shelters of S. scitiorella caterpillars are built for other purposes as, for example, to protect caterpillars from desiccation and predation.
Cerrado; herbivory; caterpillar; tannin; Xylopia aromatica
