Altitudinal trends in species richness and diversity of Mesoamerican parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

Abstract

Utilising short‐term but geographically extensive sampling in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, we examined altitudinal trends in species richness and diversity of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps. This study covered 19 subfamilies, including four globally large subfamilies that have not yet been taxonomically revised in the Neotropics. Sampling was done at 25 sites classified into three elevational categories on the basis of the average elevation of traps at each site (low 34–659 m a.s.l., middle 1033–1709 m a.s.l., and high 1930–2565 m a.s.l.). A total of 2847 ichneumonid individuals were captured and sorted into 751 morphospecies, most of which were identified to the genus level. We found a clear compositional gradient in ichneumonid communities along the elevational gradient, as the majority of species were restricted to either one elevational zone or two adjacent zones. In our data, mid‐ and high‐elevation sites had generally higher ichneumonid species richness and diversity than low‐elevation sites. These trends were largely similar to those found in larger scale Mesoamerican ichneumonid studies. Yet, the low ichneumonid richness at low elevations may partly be a sampling artefact. This provides a new piece of evidence for the suggestion that extensive sampling is needed for uncovering the real diversity of ichneumonids in tropical lowland forests, and that the reputation of Ichneumonidae as a notable example of a reversed latitudinal diversity gradient may be undeserved.

Stable baselines of temporal turnover underlie high beta diversity in tropical arthropod communities

“…Our results also reinforce conclusions based on studies that examined only selected arthropod taxa. For examples, short‐term Malaise trap studies were found to reliably monitor dipteran communities along Norwegian streams (Diserud, Stur, & Aagaard, ) and to reveal diversity patterns in Mesoamerican ichneumonid faunas that corresponded with well‐documented trends (Veijalainen et al., ). However, a major increase in sampling effort will be needed to comprehensively document biodiversity.…”

Diversity increases with elevation: empidine dance flies (Diptera, Empididae) challenge a predominant pattern

“…This pattern is only known for four other groups of insects: the ichneumonids of Central America and Africa (van Noort , Veijalainen et al . ), some ants of the Spring Mountains in the USA (Sanders et al . ), the geometrid moths of the subfamily Larentiinae in the Andean mountains (Brehm & Fiedler , Brehm et al .…”

Extending understanding of latitudinal patterns in parasitoid wasp diversity

“…To check if this assumption would hold true in ichneumonid data, we tested the relationship between subfamily abundance and species richness within the subfamily using combined data from four datasets where species (or morphospecies) identifications were completed for all subfamilies. This included one dataset from northern Alberta (Finnamore, ), two from the United Kingdom (Owen et al ., ) and one from Central America (Veijalainen et al ., ). To the best of our knowledge, these datasets are the only examples of published studies where species richness numbers were provided for all ichneumonid subfamilies.…”