Abiotic effects on the distributions of major insect species in agricultural fields

Abstract

We compared how abiotic factors affect the regional distributions of four insect groups (Dermaptera, Formicidae, Orthoptera and Diptera). Insects were collected using a pitfall trap from 36 agricultural field sites, and 31 933 individuals encompassing 139 species were observed. The distribution pattern of dominant species was not obviously different among the four groups. Species richness (H′) of Orthoptera showed a negative and positive correlation with precipitation and sunlight duration, respectively. Longitudinal zonation was the main distribution pattern of many dominant species. Overall, canonical correspondence analysis showed that temperature and precipitation were closely associated with the distribution of Orthoptera, but not that of Formicidae, implying that Formicidae may be affected less by abiotic factors compared to other taxonomic groups. Some orthopteran species such as Dianemobius nigrofasciatus and Polionemobius mikado showed a negative correlation with temperature. We suggest that these species can be categorized as susceptible to climate change. Our results also implied that the association between climate variables and distribution of insects should be evaluated at a species level.

Differences in the insect fauna associated to a monocultural pasture and a silvopasture in Southeastern Brazil

“…Higher abundance of Diptera in pasture monocultures has been reported previously 42 , 43 . Composition of Orthoptera communities is known to be greatly affected by plant cover 44 and changes of environmental conditions, forming distinct communities characteristic of areas with low vegetational cover and others characteristic of high vegetation cover 45 – 47 . Some studies have reported that abundance of some groups falls with habitat simplification 48 , while in other groups abundance increases 49 which was also recorded in our study.…”

Effects of Temperature and Rainfall Pattern on The Abundance of Orthopteran Insects in Coal Mines Ecological Restoration Areas of Jharia Coal Fields, Jharkhand, India

“…Several studies confirmed that climatic changes strongly affect the abundance and geographical distribution of orthopteran insects. (Eo et al, 2017, Weiss et al, 2012. Due to their sensitivity to microclimate, orthopteran species are considered as biological indicators.…”