Insect Diversity of Tropical Montane Forests: Diversity and Spatial Distribution of Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Inhabiting Leaf Litter in Southern Mexico.

The abundance, diversity, and spatial distribution of the weevil fauna (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) of leaf litter were compared between primary and successional cloud forests at the Biological Reserve Cerro Huitepec in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. In total, 2,102 individuals and 57 species of Curculionidae were collected and identified, of which >90% represented undescribed species. Total weevil densities averaged 8.51 ± 9.04 individuals per 0.5 m² of leaf litter. Estimates of the total number of leaf litter weevils in the reserve were >20 million. Data suggest that even small fragments of cloud forest (<10 ha) may maintain viable populations of the more common species of leaf litter weevils for extended periods. However, because of their low powers of dispersion and their high levels of endemism, leaf litter weevils, and presumably other leaf litter insects, are particularly vulnerable to extinction when whole forest fragments are lost or when recent climate changes push cloud forests to higher elevations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]