Vellozia nivea (Velloziaceae) is a herbaceous plant that occurs on rocky soils in the rupestrian fields of the "Serra do Cipó", Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Its hermaphrodite flowers are extremely soft, representing a source of tender food for the insects that prey on its tepals and reproductive structures. The aim of this study was to observe the effect of the height and number of flowers of the host plant on the abundance and richness of herbivorous insects. We found 21 morphospecies of insects (nine families and three orders) associated to flowers of V. nivea. No significant correlation between the number of flowers and plant height and the variety of herbivorous insects per plant was observed (r² = 0.17, P > 0.05). However, these two factors together explained 39% of the variation of insect abundance (P < 0.05). Thus, only the abundance of herbivorous insects was influenced by the number of flowers and the height of host plant.
herbivory; plant-insect interactions; rupestrian fields; Vellozia nivea