HERBIVORY BY INSECTS IN AUSTRALIAN TROPICAL SAVANNAS - A REVIEW

The most important grazing insects are grasshoppers and harvester termites, although the latter are probably mostly detritivorous. Consumption rates by grasshoppers in African savannas can be comparable to those by large populations of ungulates and cattle; in Australia they are probably the major grazing animals. Folivory and pre-dispersal seed predation by insects are poorly known in Australian savannas, although the results of work on southern species of Eucalyptus and Acacia are likely to be relevant. Harvester ants are the most important post-dispersal seed predators: they consist primarily of omnivorous species of Monomorium and Pheidole, but also include an endemic radiation of granivorous Meranoplus. -from Authors