Insects associated with seeds of trees in the Makiling Botanic Garden (MBG) Laguna, Philippines

Eleven seed-infesting insects were found feeding on seeds of eight endemic tree species in the Makiling Botanic Gardens. These were: Deropygus infantilis plicatus Morimoto and Anthribus wallacei philippinensis Fabr. in Anisoptera Aurea Foxw.; Pammene leucodora Meyrick, Atoporhis sp. and Amphialus sp. in Parashorea malaanonan (Blanco) Merr., Pyralidae in Shorea contorta Vid., Coleoptera in Anisoptera thurifera (Blanco) Blume, Lepidoptera in Pterocarpus indicus Willd. forma indicus, Temnalysis (Cteromerus) lagestroemiae (Mshl.) in Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers.; Lepidoptera in Chisocheton pentandrus (Blanco) Merr. and Deodorix epijarbas (Moore) in Guioa Koelreuteria (Blanco) Merr. Seed infestation varied from 16.44 to 47.11 percent. Important morphological characters of eight insect species were described. Seed germination ranged widely from 14.88 to 81.11 percent with a mean of 47.99 percent. Nevertheless, all dipterocarp seeds germinated successfully despite insect infestation and yielded high percentage germination values ranging from 75.33 to 81.11. There were significant variations among crown levels in terms of infestation in three insect species, namely; P. leucodora Meyrick, a Pyralidae in S. contorta and a Lepidoptera in P. indicus. Regression analysis of seed germination versus infestation revealed a signficant linear relationship for only two species namely; P. leucodora Meyrick and a Coleoptera infesting A. thurifera. Likewise, there was a marked linear relationship exhibited by P. leucodora on P. malaanonan, Coleoptera on A. thurifera and Deodorix epijarbas on G. Koelreuteria regarding regression between seed germination and insect count. Infestation rate and insect count showed a considerable linear relationship for majority of the insect species namely, D. infantilis plicatus, A. wallacei philippinensis, D. epijarbas, Atoporhis sp., an unidentified pyralid in S. contorta, a Coleoptera in A. thurifera and a Lepidoptera in C. pentandrus