Fossil evidences of gall-inducing arthropod—plant interactions in the Indian subcontinent

Abstract

The sedimentary basins of India offer a reasonably convincing record the distribution of plant fossils from different geologic periods of the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Each period and geological horizon has characteristic assemblages of plant fossils represented by bryophytes, lycophytes, pteridophytes, pteridosperms, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Indian fossil record has comparatively been less examined from the point of view of plant-arthropod interactions; however, the available data reveal that enough scope exists to discuss the relationship between plants and arthropods, especially the gallinducing arthropods. The reported occurrences of earliest gall-like features in plant fossils and presence of hemipteran wings in the Glossopteris flora suggest that in Indian sub-continent the gall-inducing arthropods evolved as early as the Early Permian and they continued into the Mesozoic flora; with some limitations, however, they appear to have had an active role on the angiosperm flora of the Cretaceous and Tertiary.

Key words:

• Fossil galls
• Gall-inducing arthropods
• Indian fossil flora
• Palaeozoic-Cenozoic periods
• evidences of insect-plant interactions