Eur. J. Entomol. 118: 182-191, 2021 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2021.019

Assemblages of flower-visiting insects in clear-cuts are rich and dynamicOriginal article

Per MILBERG ORCID..., Victor ERIKSSON ORCID..., Karl-Olof BERGMAN ORCID...
IFM Biology, Conservation Ecology Group, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden; e-mails: per.milberg@liu.se, v.eriksson89@gmail.com, karl-olof.bergman@liu.se

Clear-cuts in production forests provide an open, sunny environment, with an abundance of nectar, as well as exposed soil and woody debris. This makes them a potential habitat for several groups of insects that typically use open habitats like grassland, including those species that visit flowers. In the current study, we used colour pan traps to catch flower-visiting species. Study sites were selected according to age (2-8 yrs since clear-cut) and land-use history (forest or meadow 150 yrs ago). We caught and identified solitary bees (395 specimens belonging to 59 species), social bees (831/16), other Hymenoptera (367/66), Syrphidae (256/31), and beetles (Lepturinae & Cetoniinae; 11,409/12). Age of the clear-cut strongly affected species composition as well as several groups and species, with most species caught mainly in the younger clear-cuts. Flower abundance statistically affected several groups and species, but inferring causation is difficult due to the flower-richness bias in pan trap catches. Bare soil and woody debris were important for the insect assemblage sampled, while bare rock was not. Although the majority of the insects caught were forest species, about one third of the species were associated with open, agricultural sites and hence seem to be able to locate and exploit resources in clear-cuts.

Keywords: Syrphidae, Apoidea, Lepturinae, colour pan trap, flower abundance

Received: January 28, 2021; Revised: April 27, 2021; Accepted: April 27, 2021; Published online: June 17, 2021  Show citation

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MILBERG, P., ERIKSSON, V., & BERGMAN, K. (2021). Assemblages of flower-visiting insects in clear-cuts are rich and dynamic. EJE, 118, Article 182-191. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2021.019
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