Galls on Brazilian ferns: new records and notes

Galls are abnormal growths of plant tissues generated from processes of hyperplasia and cellular hypertrophy, induced especially by insects and mites (detailed definition in Raman, 2007). Galls on ferns (i.e. seedless vascular plants) have been neglected in many inventories worldwide. In consequence, basic information such as the identity of gall host ferns, the frequency and locations of the interaction are still poorly known. Until present, only 16 fern species have been recorded as galls hosts in Brazil (see synopsis in Santos and Maia, 2018). In this note, we catalog ten ferns hosting galling agents, including four new records of galls, and report new locations to some ferns recorded as hosts, and characterize the morphology of the galls. The morphological characterization demonstrated the occurrence of leaf galls on all host ferns. In the case of Hymenophyllum species, leaf galls occur on both the blade and the petiole.