Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are: Trophic variety of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) in Southeast Europe
| Main Authors: | Snežana Popov, Marija Miličić, Ante Vujić |
|---|---|
| Format: | Proceeding poster |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/3662678 |
Daftar Isi:
- Biodiversity continues to decline all over the world, significantly affecting ecosystem structures and processes. Recent decline in wild pollinators clearly threatens pollination services, which can lead to serious consequences in terms of disruptions of plant-pollinator interactions. Hoverflies play a significant role in the pollination in agricultural and natural systems, and their associations with vegetation has been well documented. While adult mostly feed on nectar and/or pollen, larvae exhibit various spectrum of feeding resources, such as decaying vegetation, bulbs, aquatic detritus, wet wood, etc. The objective of the present study was to assess hoverfly species richness within different vegetation classes in Southeast Europe (SE Europe) and to evaluate representation of specific larval trophic groups in the sample. Additionally, spatial variation of larval trophic groups across different vegetation classes was addressed. All documented species in SE Europe (N=564) were each assigned to one of five larval trophic groups: saproxylic, phytophagous developing in bulbs, phytophagous developing in roots, saprophagous and zoophagous. Results have shown that relative frequency of the different feeding groups varied significantly across Southeast Europe (χ2 (4) = 76.46, p = .00), as well as across different vegetation classes. Not surprisingly, species with zoophagous larvae dominated among Southeast European hoverflies. These species can be considered generalist species, not directly dependent on specific vegetation. Thus, suitable environment for the development of these species can be found across different vegetation classes.