Abstract
We surveyed ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in 10 stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), all monoculture stands 5-100 years old, in western Slovakia, Central Europe, over two successive periods, October 2013 - March 2014 and October 2014 - March 2015. The winter in each period was exceptionally mild. Ladybirds were collected from the lower branches of pine trees using beating trays and were present in 61% of the 1040 samples (one sample containing ladybirds from 20 branches, 1 m long each). In total 3965 individuals of 20 species were recorded. Non-conifer dwelling species associated with broadleaved trees or herbaceous plants prevailed (45% of species), followed by conifer specialists (40%) and generalists (15%). Although 13 species were found at least in one winter month, December, January or February, only four of them, Exochomus quadripustulatus, Coccinella septempunctata, Harmonia axyridis and Hippodamia variegata, were recorded continually during both winters. The number of species, the abundance of all ladybirds and the abundance of dominant species (E. quadripustulatus, C. septempunctata and H. axyridis) decreased from late autumn towards winter and remained lowest during this most adverse time of the year for ladybirds. Overwintering species assemblages of ladybirds changed over time and varied with age of pine stand. Our results suggest that Scots pine in Central Europe supports species rich assemblages of ladybirds from late autumn to early spring and, being widely distributed, it could be suited to winter surveying of ladybirds at large spatial scales to reveal behavioural and ecological responses of species to changing weather or different climates.
Highlights
Overwintering is an important phase of an insect’s life in temperate areas
Scots pine in Central Europe from late autumn to early spring. They reveal the importance of the lower branches of pines as a habitat for at least 20 ladybird species, that is, more species than Bastian (1982) recorded on young Scots pines during the growing season (17 species) or Czechowska (1995a) reported from the canopies of Scots pine stands of different ages during the growing season and in early autumn (14 species)
Only E. quadripustulatus was frequently recorded during the whole overwintering period
Summary
Overwintering is an important phase of an insect’s life in temperate areas. For ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) it is passed in the adult stage. As for other periods of the life-cycle of ladybirds, the ecology of overwintering has received much attention (Majerus, 1994; Hodek & Honěk, 1996; Hodek, 2012a, b; Hodek et al, 2012). To overcome unfavourable cold weather and scarcity of food during winter, ladybirds enter a period of dormancy and select suitable overwintering habitats (Majerus, 1994). There is considerable variation in the type of dormancy sites chosen by particular ladybird species (Majerus, 2016). Ladybirds spend winter in rock crevices, heaps of stones, leaf litter, tree bases, cones, grass tussocks, standing dry herbs, Final formatted article © Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice.
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