Diversity and distribution of Braconidae, a family of parasitoid wasps in the Central European peatbogs of South Bohemia, Czech Republic
1Biology Centre, Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31 CZ–370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
2Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab., 1 St. Petersburg 199034, Russia; and Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, Warszawa 00-679, Poland
3Department of Entomology, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum (Naturalis), 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands
4Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Abstract
An ecological overview of seven years investigation of Braconidae, a family of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) and a tyrpho-classification of parasitoids in peatbog areas of South Bohemia, Czech Republic are given. A total of 350 species were recorded in investigated sites, but only five tyrphobionts (1.4%) are proposed: Microchelonus basalis, Microchelonus koponeni, Coloneura ate, Coloneura danica and Myiocephalus niger. All of these species have a boreal-alpine distribution that, in Central Europe, is associated only with peatbogs. Tyrphophilous behaviour is seen in at least four (1.1%) species: Microchelonus pedator, Microchelonus subpedator, Microchelonus karadagi and Microchelonus gravenhorstii; however, a number of other braconids prefer peatbogs because they were more frequently encountered within, rather than outside, the bog habitat. The rest of the braconids (342 species, 97.5%) are tyrphoneutrals, many of them being eurytopic components of various habitats throughout their current ranges. Lists of tyrphobiontic braconids and a brief commentary on species composition, distributional picture of current ranges, and parasitoid association to bog landscape are provided. Being true refugial habitats for populations in an ever-changing world, peatbogs play a significant role in harboring insect communities.
Abbreviations: BMNH, Natural History Museum, London; RMNH, National Museum of Natural History (Naturalis), Leiden, Netherlands; ZIN, Zoological Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia; MNHV, Museum of Natural History (Naturhistorisches Museum), Vienna, Austria; MMB, Moravian Museum in Brno, Czech Republic; MIZW, Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Keywords: Central Europe, Hymenoptera, Braconidae, ecology, faunistics, tyrpho-classification
Correspondence: alozan@entu.cas.cz, bhymenopt@zin.ru, cachterberg@naturalis.nnm.nl, dmonaghan@igb-berlin.de
Received: 28 January 2008 | Accepted: 23 December 2008| Published: ************** 2010
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 16
Lozan A, Belokobylskij S, Achterberg C, Monaghan M. 2010. Diversity and distribution of Braconidae, a family of parasitoid wasps in the Central European peatbogs of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. 21pp. Journal of Insect Science 10:16, available online: insectscience.org/10.16
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