ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR AND BIONOMICS Temporal Variation in Seed Predation by Insects in a Population of Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae) in Santa Catarina Island, SC, Brazil FR DA SILVA 1 , RM BEGNINI 1 , BC LOPES 2 , TT CASTELLANI 2 1 Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Depto de Botânica, Univ Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil 2 Depto de Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Univ Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil Abstract Keywords Beetles, fruit, palm, predispersion Correspondence Romualdo M Begnini, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Depto de Botânica, Univ Federal de Santa Catarina, 88040-970, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil; romomb@gmail. com Edited by Wesley AC Godoy – ESALQ/USP Received 10 December 2010 and accepted 30 November 2011 Published online 10 February 2012 * Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil 2012 Insect seed predation may vary depending on seed production. The present study considers the hypothesis that the rates of seed predation tend to be smaller in years of higher fruit production. Thus, we moni- tored the production of fruits and predation of seeds of the palm Syagrus romanzoffiana over 2 years in the Atlantic Forest (Parque Municipal da Lagoa do Peri, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil), between July 2006 and June 2008. Plots of 0.25 m 2 were fitted under 20 mother plants and fruits were monthly collected for assessment of abundance and seed predation. There was variation in fruit production between the 2 years and among reproductive plants. Predation rates were high and occurred in the predispersal phase by the Curculionidae Revena rubigi- nosa Boheman, Anchylorhynchus aegrotus Fahraeus, and Anchylorhyn- chus variabilis Gyllenhal. Seed predation by these species of Anchylorhynchus is first registered in the present study. In average, about 60% of the seeds monthly produced in the population tend to escape insect predation in year of high or low production, becoming available for recruitment. The predation rate was not related to the amount of fruits produced per reproductive plant. Also, different than expected, there was a positive relation between the rates of seed predation and the total of fruits produced monthly on the plots. Thus, no evidence for the satiation of insect seed predators was found in this study with S. romanzoffiana. Introduction The seed loss by predation may affect the seedling recruit- ment and population growth (Janzen 1971, Crawley 1983, Louda et al 1990, Kolb et al 2007). As recruitment can be limited by the amount of viable seeds, understanding the pre and postdispersion predation, as well as the patterns of seed fall and seed production, are important in compre- hending this dynamic (Schupp 1990, De Steven & Wright 2002, Fenner & Thompson 2005). One factor that may interfere with the seed predation rate is the variation in the intensity of seed production. In plants with species-specific predators, differences in seed production between years may promote the satiation and death of predators. Satiation can occur at times of high production, with greater seed survival (Silvertown 1980, Crawley 1983, Fenner & Thompson 2005), leading to a negative correlation between seed density and rates of predation (Schupp 1992). Variations in seed predation can also occur among individuals within populations and can have effects on traits evolution in plants (Kolb et al 2007). The palm family is among those with a higher incidence of seed predation by beetles, especially bruchines (Chrys- omelidae: Bruchinae), and at least three species are asso- ciated with Syagrus romanzoffiana (Johnson et al 1995). Alves-Costa (2004) reported the Bruchinae Pachymerus cardo Fåhraeus as postdispersal seed predator of S. roman- zoffiana in Atlantic Forest and the Curculionidae Revena Neotrop Entomol (2012) 41:17–21 DOI 10.1007/s13744-011-0002-z