Water Is Needed to Exist: Habitat Preferences of Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) in a Desert Country

Abstract

Tiger beetles are a group of predatory insects occurring mainly in diverse sandy areas, with particular species often characterised by narrow habitat preferences, which makes them both very important bioindicators for determining patterns of biodiversity and a flagship group for nature conservation. However, the precise roles of particular habitat parameters in the distribution of these beetles in desert areas are almost unknown. Habitat preferences for four tiger beetles species were analysed in Tunisia. Fifty samples from a major part of the country were collected, for which climate data, macrohabitat types. and soil parameters (soil humidity, salinity, pH, and structure) were studied. Here we show that most studied Cicindelidae were characterised by unique habitat preferences and did not co-occur with other ones, including two taxa found as habitat specialists, occurring in only one type of macrohabitat. Two other species were noted as more eurythopic and occupied 2–3 macrohabitat types, with Lophyra flexuosa as the most ubiquitous species not related to the measured parameters. The presence of a source of water (understood as a part of the habitat type, such as river banks and oases, or high soil humidity) was found as the most important factor in the distribution of the studied tiger beetle species. The present study is the first one focused on habitat preferences and habitat specialization of Cicindelidae fauna of Maghreb, and one of only a few in Africa.

Diversidad de escarabajos tigre (Carabidae: Cicindelinae) en México

“…Diferentes factores podrían afectar la presencia o ausencia de cicindelinos en la Faja Volcánica Transmexicana. Por ejemplo, la zona climática, la altitud, la humedad del suelo y la presencia de cuerpos de agua son factores importantes que determinan la distribución de las especies de escarabajos tigre en zonas costeras del Mar Negro y del Mediterráneo en el sureste de Europa y en zonas costeras del norte de África (Jaskuła et al, 2019;Jaskuła y Płóciennik, 2020). Estos factores podrían también influir en su distribución dentro de la Zona de Transición Mexicana.…”

“…Actualmente se conocen 2,822 especies descritas, con mayor diversidad en las regiones Afrotropical, Neotropical y Oriental (Bouchard et al, 2011;Gough et al, 2018). Este grupo es de gran importancia ecológica debido a que son depredadores generalistas desde el estado larval y han sido considerados como insectos bioindicadores (Carroll y Pearson, 1998;Jaskuła y Płóciennik, 2020;Pearson, 2006;Pearson y Cassola, 1992;Rodríguez et al, 1994Rodríguez et al, , 1998.…”

Alien and native tree species having extrafloral nectaries as favorite hunting area for arboreal endemic Philippine tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) in human‐disturbed habitat in Lanao del Sur Province, Mindanao, Philippines

“…Generally it is known that cicindelids are insects with narrow or even very narrow habitat specialization (e.g., Freitag, 1979; Ganeshaiah & Belavadi, 1986; Jaskuła, 2011, 2015; Jaskuła & Płóciennik, 2020; Jaskuła et al., 2019; Knisley & Pearson, 1984; Pearson, 1984; Satoh & Hori, 2005; Satoh et al., 2006; Schultz & Hadley, 1987; Zerm & Adis, 2001). This specialization makes the group very sensitive for environmental changes especially resulting from human activity (Arndt et al., 2005; Knisley, 2010; Knisley and Hill, 1992).…”

Morphological variability in Lophyra flexuosa (Fabricius, 1787) (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) in desert countries is affected by sexual dimorphism and geographic aspect

“…The tiger beetle, Lophyra flexuosa (Fabricius, 1787), is widely distributed in western Palearctic, occurring from the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco in the west to Middle Asia in the east, with most of the localities known from the south Mediterranean region (Assmann et al, 2018; Jaskuła, 2015; Jaskuła & Rewicz, 2015; Jaskuła et al, 2015; Lisa, 2002; Matalin & Chikatunov, 2016; Putchkov & Matalin, 2003; Serrano, 2013; Wiesner, 2020). In Maghreb, the species is widespread and recognized as euryoecious, inhabiting the highest number of habitats among all known Cicindelidae species recorded from this area (Jaskuła, 2015; Jaskuła & Płóciennik, 2020). Moreover, it can be characterized both as species with the widest altitudinal distribution and the longest phenological activity among all tiger beetles known from this region (Jaskuła & Rewicz, 2015; Jaskuła et al, 2015).…”