Species composition and abundance of flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) associated with moist habitats in Isparta and Burdur Provinces, Turkey

2006·4.3 MB·

by  Ali Gok

PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
108(3), 2006, pp. 543-549
SPECIES COMPOSITION AND ABUNDANCE OF FLEA BEETLES
(COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) ASSOCIATED WITH MOIST
HABITATS IN ISPARTA AND BURDUR PROVINCES, TURKEY
ALI GOK AND EBRU GUL ASLAN
Stileyman Demirel University, Science and Art Faculty, Biology Department,
32260 Isparta, Turkey(e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected])
Abstract.4An one-year survey was conducted on flea beetles associated with
moist habitats in Isparta and Burdur provinces in the central part of the 8Lake
District9 in Turkey. Specimens were collected from various humid habitats divided
into five major groups: moist meadows, marshes, moist pastures, lake sides, and
stream banks. A total of 4,443 individuals belonging to 45 species were found, some
of which are important pests of several wild plants. Habitat preference and relative
abundance data are provided for each species. Among the genera collected in the
study, Chaetocnema Stephens was the most abundant genus typically occurring in
moist habitats. There was no significant difference in flea beetle species composition
among the different habitat types. The highest species abundance and composition
occurred in stream banks and moist meadows, whereas marshes have the lowest
species abundance and composition.
Key Words: Flea beetles, moist habitats, species composition, abundance, Turkey
Alticinae is the largest subfamily of weeds belonging to Euphorbiaceae
Chrysomelidae and can be distinguished (Konstantinov 1998, Jonsen et al. 2001,
from other Chrysomelidae by _ their Konstantinov et al. 2001).
greatly enlarged hind femora (Furth Flea beetles are common in almost all
1988). It as represented: by. 59. genera types of habitats. The richest flea beetle
and more than 1,000 species in the communities occur in open areas near
Palearctic Region (Konstantinov and forests or scrublands often associated
Vandenberg 1996). with rivers or lakes and in various kinds
Alticines are highly specialized phy- of meadows (Konstantinov and Vanden-
tophagous insects and often follow their berg 1996). Although most alticines are
host plant distributions (Furth 1979, terrestrial, several of them, e.g., Altica,
Jolivet 1988). Some of them are serious Chaetocnema Stephens and Longitarsus,
economic pests, causing direct damage are attracted by subaquatic plants along
and transmitting viruses; however, sev- streams (Jolivet and Verma 2002).
eral, including species of Longitarsus The Turkish Alticinae fauna consists
Berthold and A/tica Muller have been of more than 250 species with recent
used successfully in the biological control contributions by Aslan et al. (1999, 2002)
of weeds (Booth et al. 1990). Some and Gok et al. (2002, 2003, 2004). Most
species of Aphthona Chevrolat are also of these works are faunistic studies. The
commonly used in biological control of Alticinae in Turkey are relatively poorly
544 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
studied from the ecological point of view There are also some other plants belong-
including habitat use and host plant ing to Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and
associations (Cilbiroglu and Gok 2004). Brassicaceae.
Therefore, we regard this study as a pre- Moist pastures (MP): These are open
liminary step for future ecological studies areas located at moist, high elevations on
on the Alticinae of Turkey. cool mountain slopes at an average of
Burdur and Isparta are located in the 1,000-1,500 m. The areas are divided
central part of the 8Lake District9, which with small springs, and mainly include
is one of the most important wetland annual herbaceaus plant communities.
areas of Turkey. This region includes Other parts away from the springs, are
a series of lakes of different sizes and relatively drier. Dominant plants are
ecological conditions. Its topography 1s species of Brassicaceae and rarely Ra-
composed of narrow and long mountain nunculaceae.
ranges, and depression areas in between Lake sides (LS): Includes humid areas
(Yildirim and Kebapg1 2004). adjacent to lakes, often surrounded by
This work is part of the authors9 agricultural lands, especially wheat
studies on the Alticinae of Isparta and fields. Asteraceae and Poaceae are the
Burdur provinces, and the purpose is to dominant plant families. There are also
assess flea beetle composition and abun- orchards in surroundings.
dance in habitats close to water. Stream banks (SB): These areas have
the most diverse vegetation compared
MATERIALS AND METHODS
with other groups. There is a wide di-
Site description.4The study was con- versity of plants, with many _ species
ducted in Isparta and Burdur provinces coexisting in a small area. The areas are
(between 29°339 and 31°20'E and 37-03" characterized by woodshrub vegetation
and 38°059'N), which are in the central and their undergrowth of herbaceous
part of the Lake District in Turkey, at plants. The dominant woodshrub cover
the average altitude of 1,000 m. The area consists of the following families: Faga-
is located between central Anatolia and ceae, Betulaceae, Salicaceae, and Rosa-
the Mediterrenean region of Turkey; ceae. The herbaceous cover is represent-
therefore, both arid and temperate cli- ed by plants of the Lamiaceae, Fabaceae,
matic conditions are present. The sam- Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, Scrophu-
pled moist habitats are categorized into lariaceae, and Boraginaceae.
five groups as follows: Sampling.4Fieldwork included sur-
Moist meadows (MM): Includes nat- vey of two representative stations for
ural areas along or near a watercourse each of the five habitats (Fig. 1). The ten
dominated by gramineous vegetation stations were sampled biweekly from
and scattered small shrubs. These areas March through September 2003 when
are drier than marshes with many more the adult flea beetles are active. The
plant species. Plants from Lamiaceae, stations were sampled by collecting at
Asteraceae, Rosaceae, and Salicaceae are each site for 60 minutes with a sweep net.
common. Sampling was made randomly from all
Marshes9 (MA): Consists of open existing plants. A total of 4,443 beetles
swampy areas that are closely associated were collected and identified using the
with water, with rushes and sedges as the keys by Warchalowski (2003). The num-
dominate plants. Plant species include ber of adult individuals was counted for
Phragmites spp. (Poaceae), Typha spp. each species. The relative abundance of
(Typhaceae), Bolboschoenus spp. (Cyper- each species was determined by using
aceae), and Carex spp. (Cyperaceae). the sample formula nj/Ny- < 100 (nj =
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 3
Nn£ Nn
5
@ Yalvag
TURKEY
> 4
Cee.)
$.Karaagag
KR6ivperri i
Tefenni@
ARikvseur
D HB @ Settlements
A Stations
Korkuteli @
MP1 @ Alnnyayla
Fig. 1. The study area with stations: MM1, MM2, moist meadows; MA1, MA2, marshes; MP1, MP2,
moist pastures; LS1, LS2, lake sides; SB1, SB2, stream banks.
individuals of species 1; Nr = _ total genera with one species each. Although
individuals of all species). The specimens Longitarsus has the highest number of
are deposited in the Department of species, Chaetocnema was the most
Biology, Faculty of Art and Science, abundant genus, representing 36.3% of
Suleyman Demirel University. the total number of individuals captured
during the study period.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The number of species found in each
In the study, forty-five species from habitat are as follows, in descending
ten genera of flea beetles were found order: stream banks (SB) 32, moist
associated with the five moist habitat meadows (MM) 28, moist pastures
types. Species associations with selected (MP) 21, lake sides (LS) 20, and marshes
habitats are in Table 1. A list of flea (MA) 19. The species richness did not
beetle species collected is in Table 2, vary significantly from habitat to habi-
together with their number and relative tat. More species were found in SB and
abundance. Longitarsus and Chaetoc- MM, probably because these two habi-
nema were the largest genera with 12 tats have the most diverse vegetation
and 10 species, respectively. Podagrica with many species of Lamiaceae, Aster-
and Dibolia were the least species-rich aceae, Salicaceae, and Graminae, which
546 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
Table 1. Flea beetles associated with moist habitats. MM, moist meadows; MA, marshes: MP, moist
pastures; LS, lake sides; SB, stream banks.
Species MM MA MP LS SB
Altica ancyrensis (Weise)
Altica carduorum Guérin-Meéneville
Altica deserticola (Weise)
Altica lythri Aubé
Altica oleracea (Linnaeus)
Aphthona flaviceps Allard
Aphthona nigriceps (Redtenbacher)
Aphthona pygmaea Kutschera
Chaetocnema concinna Marsham
Chaetocnema conducta (Motschulsky)
Chaetocnema coyei (Allard)
Chaetocnema hortensis (Geoffroy) ++~ +4 4 ++++ t+¢4t
Chaetocnema major (Jacquelin du Val) +++ t+t++¢+4++
Chaetocnema mannerheimi (Gyllenhal)
Chaetocnema montenegrina Heikertinger ¢+¢t4++¢++4++ ¢
Chaetocnema sahlbergi (Gyllenhal) ++ +t++4
Chaetocnema scheffleri (Kutschera)
Chaetocnema tibialis (Mliger)
Crepidodera aurata (Marsham)
Crepidodera aurea (Geoffroy)
Crepidodera lamina (Bedel)
Dibolia occultans (Koch) +++4 4
Longitarsus bertii Leonardi
Longitarsus kutschera Rye
Longitarsus longipennis Kutschera
Longitarsus luridus (Scopoli) ++ ++4 ++
Longitarsus lycopi (Foudras) 4+4++ + 444++4+++ + +4 +4
Longitarsus melanocephalus (De Geer)
Longitarsus parvulus (Paykull)
Longitarsus pellucidus (Foudras)
Longitarsus pratensis (Panzer)
Longitarsus scutellaris (Rey) +++4+
Longitarsus solaris Gruev
Longitarsus succineus Foudras
Neocrepidodera ferruginea (Scopoli) 4++++ +++ +
+
Neocrepidodera impressa obtusangula (J. Daniel)
Phyllotreta aerea Allard ++ ++
Phyllotreta diademata (Foudras)
Phyllotreta vittula (Redtenbacher)
Podagrica menetriesi (Faldermann)
Psylliodes anatolicus G6k and Cilbiroglu
Psylliodes circumdatus (Redtenbacher)
Psylliodes cupreus (Koch)
Psylliodes magnificus Gruev
Psylliodes reitteri Weise
are characteristic food plant families of of phytophagous insect communities.
most Alticinae (Cilbiroglu and Gok The species numbers found in_ other
2004). According to Lawton (1983), three habitats (MP, LS, MA) were very
changes of plant species composition similar (Fig. 2).
and diversity influence the habitat com- As shown in Table 1, eight species are
plexity, hence the diversity and richness found in all habitats: Longitarsus long-
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 3 547
Table 2. Numbers and percent abundance of flea beetles collected.
Species Number Collected Relative Abundance (%)
Altica oleracea (Linnaeus) 585 SSF
Chaetocnema coyei (Allard) 542 1222.
Chaetocnema tibialis (Iliger) 379 8.53
Altica deserticola (Weise) Dif 6.12
Chaetocnema concinna Marsham 214 4.82
Longitarsus lycopi (Foudras) 180 4.05
Longitarsus pratensis (Panzer) WS 3.94
Neocrepidodera ferruginea (Scopoli) 174 592
Crepidodera aurata (Marsham) 163 3.67
Chaetocnema mannerheimi (Gyllenhal) 151 3.4
Chaetocnema major (Jacquelin du Val) 141 3)I1 7/
Longitarsus parvulus (Paykull) 122 2.74
Chaetocnema conducta (Motschulsky) 104 2.34
Longitarsus longipennis Kutschera 102 Z29
Neocrepidodera impressa obtusangula (J. Daniel) 87 1.96
Longitarsus pellucidus (Foudras) 82 1.85
Longitarsus melanocephalus (De Geer) 81 1.82
Dibolia occultans (Koch) 81 1.82
Psylliodes cupreus (Koch) 76 el
Aphthona pygmaea Kutschera AZ 1.62
Phyllotreta aerea Allard Tz 1.62
Phyllotreta vittula (Redtenbacher) 62 139
Longitarsus succineus Foudras 51 WES
Longitarsus luridus (Scopoli) 48 1.08
Phyllotreta diademata (Foudras) 48 1.08
Podagrica menetriesi (Faldermann) 32 Oz
Aphthona flaviceps Allard 3] 0.7
Psylliodes anatolicus G6k and Cilbiroglu 30 0.67
Chaetocnema hortensis (Geoffroy) 28 0.63
Psylliodes magnificus Gruev Dy 0.61
Longitarsus bertii Leonardi Dil 0.61
Crepidodera lamina (Bedel) 24 0.54
Chaetocnema scheffleri (Kutschera) 24 0.54
Chaetocnema sahlbergi (Gyllenhal) 2p) 0.5
Longitarsus scutellaris (Rey) 22 0.5
Psylliodes circumdatus (Redtenbacher) 21 0.47
Crepidodera aurea (Geoffroy) 18 0.41
Altica carduorum Guérin-Meéneville 7 0.38
Altica ancyrensis (Weise) 13 0.29
Longitarsus kutschera Rye 12 O27
Aphthona nigriceps (Redtenbacher) 1] 0.25
Chaetocnema montenegrina Heikertinger 8 0.18
Longitarsus solaris Gruev 6 0.14
Altica lythri Aubé 5) 0.11
Psylliodes reitteri Weise ] 0.02
ipennis, Longitarsus luridus, Altica oler- the genus Phyllotreta, and two in Psy-
acea, Chaetocnema concinna, Chaetoc- lliodes: Phyllotreta diademata, Phyllo-
nema conducta, Chaetocnema_ coyel, treta vittula, Psylliodes circumdatus and
Chaetocnema tibialis, and Psylliodes cu- Psylliodes reitteri.
preus. Four species were found in only Phyllotreta mainly prefer plants from
one habitat type; of which two were in Brassicaceae and Resedaceae which grow
548 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
dale
MM MA MP LS 3B
Fig. 2. Species percentage of the five habitats studied. MM, moist meadows; MA, marshes; MP, moist
pastures; LS, lake sides; SB, stream banks.
in cultivated areas, roadsides, orchards, LITERATURE CITED
and shrubs (Mohr 1966; Furth 1979;
Aslan, I., B. Gruev, and H. Ozbek. 1999. A
Matsuda 1988, Nielsen 1988). The low preliminary review of the subfamily Alticinae
density of Brassicaceae in moist habitats (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in Turkey. Turk-
may be the reason for limited habitat ish Journal of Zoology 23: 373-414.
Aslan, I., R. Beenen, and H. Ozbek. 2002. New
occurrence of Phyllotreta. Many species
records of leaf beetles from Turkey (Coleop-
of Psylliodes are also Brassicaceae feed-
tera, Chrysomelidae). Entomologische Blatter
ers (Furth 1983). The restriction of each 98: 231-235.
Psylliodes species to one habitat may be Booth, R. G., M. L. Cox, and R. B. Madge. 1990. Gui-
temporary or accidental. des to Insects of Importance to Man 3. Coleop-
tera. University Press, Cambridge, U.K. 384 pp.
The most abundant species in number
Cilbiroglu, E. G. and A. Gok. 2004. Flea beetles
of individuals were Altica oleracea,
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of Isparta, Tur-
Chaetocnema_ coyei, and Chaetocnema key, with habitat use and host plant associa-
ribialis*with t379o, 12:29; and 8.53%, tions. Proceedings of the Entomological Soci-
respectively. Psylliodes reitteri was the ety of Washington 106: 858-864.
rarest species, represented by a single Furth, D. G. 1979. Zoogeography and host plant
ecology of the Alticinae of Israel, especially
individual.
Phyllotreta; with descriptions of three new
Density and species composition of species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Israel
phytophagous beetles are affected by Journal of Zoology 28(1): 1437.
many factors, such as vegetation, humid- 1983. Alticinae of Israel: Psy/liodes (Co-
ity, temperature and host plants (Gillott leoptera: Chrysomelidae). Israel Journal of
Entomology 17: 37-58.
1995). Our studies revealed that moist
1988. The jumping apparatus of flea
habitats are preferred by a large number
beetles (Alticinae)4The metafemoral spring.
of moisture-loving flea beetles. pp. 285-297. In Jolivet, P., E. Petitpierre, and
VOLUME 108, NUMBER 3 549
T. H. Hsiao, eds. Biology of Chrysomelidae. Konstantinov, A. S. and N. J. Vandenberg. 1996.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Handbook of Palearctic Flea Beetles (Coleop-
Netherlands. 615 pp. tera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae). Contributions
Gillott, C. 1995. Entomology. Plenum Press, New on Entomology, International 1(3): 237-439.
York. 798 pp. Konstantinov, A. S., M. G. Volkovitsh, and M.
Gok, A., E. G. GCilbiroglu, and Y. Ayvaz. 2003. Cristofaro. 2001. New data on Palearctic
New contribution to the Turkish flea beetle Aphthona (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with
fauna (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae). description of a new species: Taxonomic and
Israel Journal of Zoology 49: 319-320. faunistic results of biological control explora-
. 2004. New records of flea beetles (Co- tion. Entomological News 112: 31-41.
leoptera: Chrysomelidae) from Turkey. Phyto- Lawton, J. H. 1983. Plant architecture and the
parasitica 32: 360-362. diversity of phytophagous insects. Annual
Gok, A., E. G. Cilbiroglu, Y. Ayvaz, and M. Z. Review of Entomology 28: 23-39.
Yildirrm. 2002. Two new records for the Matsuda, K. 1988. Feeding stimulants of leaf
Turkish flea beetle fauna: Phyllotreta reitteri beetles, pp. 41456. Jn Jolivet, P., E. Petitpierre,
Heik., 1911 and £&pitrix dieckmanni Mohr, and T. H. Hsiao, eds. Biology of Chrysome-
1968 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Alticinae). lidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dor-
Israel Journal of Zoology 48: 254-255. drecht, The Netherlands. 615 pp.
Jolivet, P. 1988. Food habits and food selection of Mohr, K. H. 1966. Chrysomelidae, pp. 95-299. In
Chrysomelidae. Bionomic and evolutionary Freude, H., K. Harde, and G. A. Lohse, eds.
perspectives, pp. 1-24. Jn Jolivet, P., E. Die Kafer Mitteleuropas, Krefeld. 299 pp.
Petitpierre, and T. H. Hsiao, eds. Biology of Nielsen, J. K. 1988. Crucifer-feeding Chrysome-
Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers, lidae: Mechanism of host plant finding and
Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 615 pp. acceptance, pp. 25-40. Jn Jolivet, P., E.
Jolivet, P. and K. K. Verma. 2002. Biology of Leaf Petitpierre, and T. H. Hsiao, eds. Biology of
Beetles. Intercept Publishers, UK. 332 pp. Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Jonsen, I. D., R. S. Bourchier, and J. Roland. 2001. Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 615 pp.
The influence of matrix habitat on Aphthona Warchalowski, A. 2003. Chrysomelidae: The Leaf
flea beetle immigration to leafy spurge patches. Beetles of Europe and the Mediterranean
Oecologia 127: 287-294. Area. Natura optima dux Foundation, Wars-
Konstantinov, A. S. 1998. Revision of the Palearc- zawa. 600 pp.
tic Species of Aphthona Chevrolat and Cladis- Yildirim, M. Z. and U. Kebapgi. 2004. Slugs
tic Classification of the Aphthonini (Coleop- (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) of the Lakes Region
tera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae). Associated (GOoller Bélgesi) in Turkey. Turkish Journal of
Publishers, Gainesville, Florida. 429 pp. Zoology 28: 155-160.