Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
Environ Entomol. 2020 Dec 14;49(6):1363-1373. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvaa114.
Many jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) play an important ecological role in wood decomposition and nutrient cycling. Compared with other saproxylic species, buprestids are considered cryptic as they are difficult to sample and identify. As a result, factors that influence buprestid diversity and distribution are poorly understood. This is especially true in urban forests, which may be uniquely fragmented and contain unique species distributions. We utilized the native ground nesting hunting wasp Cerceris fumipennis Say to survey buprestids at 20 urban sites in Minnesota. We collected a total of 1,939 beetles consisting of 11 genera and 51 species, including 9 new state records for the state of Minnesota. We found a positive relationship between wasp size and size of beetle prey captured. Agrilus was the most common genus collected, followed by Dicerca. Species richness tended to decrease in sites with many emerald ash borers, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, which may reflect a potential tendency of wasps to return preferentially to high-density infestations of emerald ash borers. We found buprestid species richness positively correlated with site-level variables such as the number of dead trees within a 200 m radius around each C. fumipennis nesting site. Our work illustrates how C. fumipennis can be utilized for general buprestid surveys in urban areas to better understand the distribution of this cryptic family.
许多宝石甲虫(鞘翅目:扁甲科)在木材分解和养分循环中起着重要的生态作用。与其他腐木物种相比,扁甲科被认为是隐蔽的,因为它们难以采样和识别。因此,影响扁甲科多样性和分布的因素了解甚少。这在城市森林中尤其如此,城市森林可能具有独特的破碎化特征,并包含独特的物种分布。我们利用本地的地面筑巢猎蜂 Cerceris fumipennis Say 来调查明尼苏达州 20 个城市地点的扁甲科。我们共收集了 1939 只甲虫,包括 11 个属和 51 个种,其中包括 9 种新的明尼苏达州州记录种。我们发现猎蜂的大小与被捕猎甲虫的大小之间存在正相关关系。Agrilus 是最常见的收集属,其次是 Dicerca。在有许多绿宝石灰象甲,Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire 的地点,物种丰富度往往会降低,这可能反映出猎蜂可能更倾向于优先返回绿宝石灰象甲的高密度感染区。我们发现扁甲科物种丰富度与站点级变量呈正相关,例如在每个 C. fumipennis 筑巢点周围 200 米半径内的枯树数量。我们的工作说明了如何利用 C. fumipennis 对城市地区的一般扁甲科进行调查,以更好地了解这个隐蔽家族的分布情况。