Long‐term trends in the composition of aphidophagous coccinellid communities in Central Europe

Abstract

1. Coccinellids (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide important ecosystem services as biocontrol agents in contributing to the regulation of key agricultural pests. It is generally accepted that biodiversity of native coccinellid communities has been declining during recent decades. Here, we present the results of a long-term study of coccinellid communities and report an attempt to determine whether recent changes in land use have affected their composition.2. Coccinellids were sampled in cereal crops, on wild herbaceous plants and deciduous trees during two periods (1976-1983 and 2002-2010).3. There are similar species-rich communities of coccinellids on trees and wild herbaceous plants (average numbers of species 3.18 and 3.06, respectively) and a poorer community on cereals (2.63). Only a few species, associated with particular types of vegetation, differed in their absolute abundance in the first and second period. There was no obvious cause of this variation in abundance. Diversity of coccinellid communities was higher in the second than in the first period (Shannon-Wiener index 1.32 and 1.14 respectively), although the number of individuals was lower (average catch per sampling session 10.0 and 18.6 individuals respectively).4. Over the 35 years of this study, the compositions of the communities remained essentially similar with the numbers of particular species more closely correlated in the two periods on cereals (R 2 = 0.97) than on herbaceous plants (R 2 = 0.74) and trees (R 2 = 0.67).

Native ladybird decline caused by the invasive harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis: evidence from a long‐term field study

“…There are very few published long‐term studies of ladybird communities in Europe, and even fewer that have encompassed the early invasion phase of a non‐native species (but see Honěk et al ., , ). Our study shows a clear change in the ladybird community on lime trees over an 11‐year period in which H. axyridis invaded England, with an association between ladybird native status ( H. axyridis or native) and year (Fig.…”

“…In conclusion, this study shows a marked change in the ladybird community on lime trees (but not on pine trees or nettles) following the arrival of H. axyridis , with a strong suggestion that significant declines in A. bipunctata were caused by the invasive species. We further illustrate the importance of long‐term sampling (Day & Tatman, ; Honěk et al ., ) so that changes in insect communities can properly be assessed over many years. As such, data will continue to be collected from the field sites reported here, to facilitate a study of even longer duration.…”

“…Ladybird (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) communities in a particular habitat often comprise a small suite of species (typically dominated numerically by one or two species) that co‐exist in different niches (Evans, ; Honěk et al ., ; Viglášová et al ., ). Most ladybirds are predatory and feed on insects of the order Hemiptera, but some ladybirds feed on non‐insect prey such as mites, and others are herbivorous or mycophagous (Hodek & Evans, ).…”

Interactions between the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle Harmonia axyridis and the Parasitoid Dinocampus coccinellae

“…IGP of H. axyridis was demonstrated by field data using molecular gut-content analysis [52]. Many factors can affect the coexistence of exotic vs. native species, including aphid availability [7], the co-presence of other exotic species [53] and the receiving environment [54]. However, a long-term study of coccinellid communities in Central Europe over 35 years, demonstrated that the compositions of the guilds communities remained essentially similar [54].…”

Movement of three aphidophagous ladybird species between alfalfa and maize revealed by carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis

“…In order to know whether different coccinellid species show distinct patterns of dispersal between arable crops, we performed stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen on C. septempunctata, Hippodamia variegata Goeze (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Propylea quatuordecimpunctata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which are known to be the three most common aphidophagous coccinellids species in arable crops in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula (Pons and Eizaguirre 2009) and other southern European regions (Iperti 1966;Honek et al 2014). The aim was to investigate their movement between alfalfa and maize when the cycles of the two crops overlap, at four periods during the growing season: (1) when maize was at its early vegetative stage, (2) just after alfalfa cutting, (3) when alfalfa regrew after cutting and (4) after maize harvesting or plant drying.…”