Hoverfly (Diptera: Syrphidae) community of a cultivated arable field and the adjacent hedgerow near Debrecen, Hungary

Abstract

A hoverfly (Syrphidae) community was investigated in a cultivated wheat field and the adjacent hedgerow near Debrecen (Hungary). We monitored the change of species richness and abundance of hoverflies along three transects in the hedgerow and in the wheat field in different distances (10 m, 20 m) from the hedgerow. The effect of sampling methods on the number of hoverfly species and individuals was analyzed. Two sampling methods were used to catch hoverflies: netting and pan traps. The whole sampling period was divided into three subperiods, which are early (22 nd April -2 nd June), middle (11 th June -1 st August) and late (6 th August -11 th September). Altogether 1,214 individuals of 22 species were sampled. Fourteen species with 78% of individuals belonged to the aphidophagous group, feeding on aphids as larvae. Altogether 861 individuals of 22 hoverfly species were sampled by netting and 353 individuals of 10 species by pan traps. The total number of hoverfly species was significant lower in the late period than in the early. The total abundance was higher in the middle period compared to the early. The species richness and abundance of aphidophagous species followed a similar pattern as the total species values. The species richness and abundance of hoverflies were significant higher in 10 m and 20 m distance in the wheat field than along the hedgerow. The results suggest that the pan traps were less efficient in the hedgerow than the netting, but in the wheat field they sampled more hoverflies because of visually alluring effect on hoverflies in the absence of flowers.

Species diversity in bee flies and hover flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae and Syrphidae) in the horticultural environments of the Blue Mountains, Australia

“…Studies of Syrphidae in Australian ecosystems (including ours) have the lowest species richness of any such communities studied to date. The next lowest Syrphidae diversity was reported in Hungary, where 22 species were recorded in arable ecosystems (Földesi & Kovács‐Hostyánszki 2014). In Canada, previous studies identified 28 and 29 species in Quebec and Ontario, respectively (Blades & Marshall 1994; Moisan‐DeSerres et al .…”

“…Syrphids have high floral constancy, and some can be efficient pollinators (Goulson & Wright 1998; Ssymank et al . 2008; Földesi & Kovács‐Hostyánszki 2014), potentially transferring as much pollen as honeybees (Rader et al . 2009).…”

“…2013), various fruit trees (Jarlan et al . 1997; Földesi & Kovács‐Hostyánszki 2014; Garratt et al . 2016) and berry crops (Gervais et al .…”

“…Many studies have attempted to quantify Syrphidae diversity in natural and agricultural environments (Blades & Marshall 1994; Földesi & Kovács‐Hostyánszki 2014; Moisan‐DeSerres et al . 2015; Gervais et al .…”

Temperate Agroforestry Systems and Insect Pollinators: A Review

“…Based on field-level studies and modeling efforts, windbreaks, hedgerows, and alley cropping systems can provide pollinator habitat close to crops and at a scale that can benefit foraging [22,29,30,53,103,104,[117][118][119][120]149]. For instance, Morandin and Kremen [22] observed higher native bee and honey bee numbers in fields adjacent to hedgerows than in fields adjacent to control edges.…”