DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10678236
title: Web interactions bewteen insects and some common plants in the "Refugio de Vida Silvestre Alto de San Miguel"

description: Abstract
Interactions between insects and plants are dominant in terrestrial ecosystems. Particularly those interactions between reproductive structures of terrestrial plants and flower visitors can drive populations dynamics in tropics. The purpose of this project was to record floral visitors in some common plants in a strategic area for the Medellín city. Some of these interactions can be incidental and others more specific, but this must be tested through complete pollination studies. Herein we present a dataset with floral visitors at different plant families, from two field trips to the "Refugio de Vida Silvestre Alto de San Miguel". Each record contains information from the insect, and plant-associated are documented in the associated taxa field; in addition, each record is linked to a photograph which can be linked to the record through the record number field. Some plants seemed to be key species for insects visitors which concentrated the most of interactions: Chamaedorea linearis, Solanum sycophanta, Euryops chrysanthemoides and two Xanthosoma species.


Classification System
All specimens were identified with the highest taxonomical level during the field work and also using photographs of each interaction


Sampling Description
Initially, some families of plants were selected on which the records would be made. To record and identify the plant species and their floral visitors, two samplings were carried out: the first between December 28 and 29, 2022 and the second between February 11 and 12, 2023. Since, in each of the field trips, there were heavy rains and the availability of flowers was not sufficient for the previously selected families, visitors to other plant structures and plants from other families that showed flowering or fruiting were included in the observations. In each sampling, free routes were carried out throughout the day, including different areas within the Refugio and the path between the Refugio and the La Clara trail. During the route, photographs were taken to record both the plants and the floral visitors. For each record, several photographs were taken so that they could incorporate relevant aspects for the identification of the associated taxa to the highest possible taxonomic resolution (e.g. phyllotaxy, type of leaves, reproductive structures). In addition to the photographs, notes were made in a field notebook during the trips, with relevant information about both groups and the observed interactions. All photographs were organized into folders by registration date; they were subsequently coded using as notation the initials of the researcher who took the photo, followed by a sequential number assigned to the record and a letter in alphabetical order, for several photos of the same record. The information was recorded in an Excel sheet with the Darwin Core (DwC) format adapted by the Secretariat of the Environment of Medellín and then, the data was pasted in this template. Additionally, the photographs are available through https://sitios.ces.edu.co/cbuces/proyectos/#section1/1.