| Abstract: | Phytotelmata, small aquatic ecosystems within different structures of terrestrial plants, occur in the inflorescescences and infructescences of Xanthosoma (Araceae). This study reports changes in composition and abundance of arthropods during the anthesis of inflorescences and in the developing infructescences of three species of Xanthosoma at three different geographic locations: (1) X. undipes in a tropical cloud forest of Costa Rica, Central America; (2) X. daguense in a tropical cloud forest in the central Andes of Colombia; and (3) X. poeppigii in the Peruvian Amazonas. All Xanthosoma species displayed similar interactions with the main pollinators, dynastine beetles. We observed a succession from terrestrial to aquatic arthropods as inflorescences aged and set fruit. However, community composition varied among different Xanthosoma species. Some arthropods recorded in Xanthosoma phytotelmata have also been reported as inflorescence visitors of the dynastine‐pollinated terrestrial genus Dieffenbachia and of vines from Philodendon and Syngonium. Further research may elucidate if phytotelmata similar to those described for Xanthosoma could occur among dynastine‐pollinated genera of Araceae, both in the understory and the canopy of Neotropical forests. |
