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A modular system for studying the biology of Scolytinae using 3D printed emergence traps is presented. This system consists of traps that can be used for the introduction of beetles into trees as well as for the determination of the number of offspring emerging from trees and branches, and their production of frass and sawdust. Open-source files used for printing these traps have been deposited as supplementary material and can be downloaded for trap production by students of Scolytinae with access to a 3D printer. The cost in material for the production of a single emergence trap on the printer used here is approximately $1.30, with a print time of less than 90 min.

Regular mowing of grassland is often necessary for plant conservation, but uncut vegetation is needed by many arthropods for overwintering. This may lead to conflicting management strategies for plant and arthropod conservation. Rotational fallows are a possible solution. They provide a spatio-temporal mosaic of mown and unmown areas that may combine benefits to both plants and arthropods. We tested if rotational fallows enhance spider overwintering in fen meadows. Rotational fallows consisted of three adjoining strips 10 m wide and 35-50 m long. Each year, one of these strips was left unmown (fallow) in an alternating manner so that each strip was mown two out of three years. Spiders were sampled during spring with emergence traps in nine pairs of currently unmown fallow strips and completely mown reference plots. Fallows significantly enhanced orb-weavers (Araneidae), sac spiders (Clubionidae) and ground spiders (Gnaphosidae). However, only 4.7% of the total variation in community composition was attributable to fallows. Community variation was larger between landscapes (34.5%) and sites (38.2%). Also β diversity was much higher between landscapes (45 species) and sites (22 species) than between fallows and mown reference plots (10 species). We conclude that the first priority for spider conservation is to preserve as many fen meadows in different landscapes as possible. Locally, rotational fallows enhance overwintering of the above-mentioned spider families, which are sensitive to mowing in other grassland types as well. Thus, rotational fallows would probably foster spider conservation in a wide range of situations. However, stronger effects can be expected from larger and/or older fallow areas.

Microclimate is a crucial driver of saproxylic beetle assemblages, with more species often found in sunny forests than in shady ones. Whether this pattern is caused by a higher detectability due to increased beetle activity under sunny conditions or a greater diversity of beetles emerging from sun-exposed deadwood remains unclear. This study examined whether sun exposure leads to higher microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood and whether this drives beetle diversity in deadwood logs and at forest stand scale. Saproxylic beetles were sampled at the stand scale using flight-interception traps and at object scale using stem-emergence traps on deadwood logs at the same site. The variability in wood surface temperature was measured on single logs and between logs as a proxy for microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood. Abundance in sunny forests was higher at the stand scale, and in shady forests at the object scale. The estimated number of species was higher in sunny forests at both scales and correlated positively with temperature variability on single logs and between logs at the stand scale and, albeit weakly, with temperature variability on single logs at the object scale. Gamma-diversity, and thus beta-diversity, across logs at the object scale was higher in sunny forests. These findings indicate that sun exposure promotes saproxylic beetle diversity due to higher microclimatic heterogeneity within and between deadwood logs. Our study therefore corroborates previous research demonstrating the importance of canopy cover and microclimate for forest biodiversity.

Nine hundred and ninety-two (992) specimens of Pseudocyclops lerneri Fosshagen, 1968 (Copepoda: Pseudocyclopidae) were collected from the largest South Atlantic coral reef, Abrolhos bank (17°20′–18°10′S; 38°35′–39°20′W). Specimens were distinguished from other Pseudocyclops spp. by a close examination of the female and male fifth leg. This is the first record of the family Pseudocyclopidae in the South Atlantic. We further indicate that the low number of studies on this species, and as a consequence, the poorly understood ecology of Pseudocyclopidae may be caused by the use of inadequate sampling methods, indicating the use of demersal-focused samplers, such as emergence traps as an alternative to the sampling of these bottom-dwelling copepods.

The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is a major pest of semi-protected strawberry crops in the UK. These crops are grown outdoors but sheltered by clear polythene tunnels during the growing season from about April to October. The aims of the study were (1) to test whether F. occidentalis overwinters in strawberry crops in central England, where overwintering in outdoor crops has not previously been demonstrated and (2) to test whether overwintering affects the thrips population during the following season. F. occidentalis was found breeding on several crop weeds that often flower throughout the year, including common chickweed ( Stellaria media ), groundsel ( Senecio vulgaris ) and dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale ) . F. occidentalis female adults were found throughout the winter in flowers of these weeds and caught every month on blue sticky traps. Transparent emergence traps placed over various locations in a second-year crop in March caught adult thrips over the following month, showing that thrips survived within the crop. Second-year strawberry crops had earlier infestations and significantly more F. occidentalis adults per flower than nearby first-year crops at the start of the season, indicating that thrips that overwinter in and around retained crops contribute to pest build-up in the following season. Control of overwintering F. occidentalis after the end of first-year cropping before second-year cropping, or growing crops for only 1 year, is a potential strategy to improve thrips management in strawberry. The survival of F . occidentalis over winter on outdoor crops raises concerns that the species could in time become established on other outdoor crops.

Adjacent ecosystems are influenced by organisms that move across boundaries, such as insects with aquatic larval stages and terrestrial adult stages, which transport energy and nutrients from water to land. However, the ecosystem-level effect of aquatic insects on land has generally been ignored, perhaps because the organisms themselves are individually small. At the naturally productive Lake Mývatn, Iceland, we used two readily measured quantities: total insect emergence from water and relative insect density on land, to demonstrate an approach for estimating aquatic insect deposition (e.g., kg N·m −2 ·yr −1 ) to shore. Estimates from emergence traps between 2008 and 2011 indicated a range of 0.15-3.7 g·m −2 ·yr −1 , or a whole-lake emergence of 3.1-76 Mg/yr; all masses are given as dry mass. Using aerial infall trap measurements of midge relative abundance over land, we developed a local-maximum decay function model to predict proportional midge deposition with distance from the lake. The dispersal model predicted midge abundance with R 2 = 0.89, a pattern consistent among years, with peak midge deposition occurring 20-25 m inland and 70% of midges deposited within 100 m of shore. During a high-midge year (2008), we estimate midge deposition within the first 50 m of shoreline to be 100 kg·ha −1 ·yr −1 , corresponding to inputs of 10 kg N·ha −1 ·yr −1 and 1 kg P·ha −1 ·yr −1 , or about three to five times above background terrestrial N deposition rates. Consistent with elevated N input where midges are most dense, we observed that soil available nitrate in resin bags decreases with increasing distance from the lake. Our approach, generalizable to other systems, shows that aquatic insects can be a major source of nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems and have the capacity to significantly affect ecosystem processes.

Predation on parasites is an important ecological process, but few experimental studies have examined the long-term impacts on the prey. Cleaner fish prey upon large numbers and selectively feed on the larger individuals of the ectoparasitic stage of gnathiid isopods. Removal of cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus for 1.5–12.5 years negatively affects coral reef fishes, but the mechanism is unclear. A reduction in local parasite populations or the size of individual parasites would benefit all susceptible fishes. We tested whether cleaner presence reduces local gnathiid populations using 18 patch-reefs distributed between two sites (both at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef) which were maintained cleaner-free or undisturbed for 12 years. Using emergence traps (1 m2), free-living gnathiid stages were sampled before and after cleaner fish were removed during the day and night, up to 11 times over the course of the experiment. There were effects of the removal in the predicted direction, driven largely by the response at one site over the other involving 200% more gnathiids, but manifested only in the daytime sampling after 4 months. There was also a main effect (36%) for the shared sample dates at both sites after 12 years. Gnathiid size occasionally differed with cleaner presence, but in no consistent way over time. Contrary to our predictions, changes in free-living gnathiid population numbers and their size structure rarely reflected the changes in fish populations and individuals observed on cleaner-free reefs. Therefore, evidence that this predator alone regulates gnathiids remains limited, suggesting other contributing processes are involved

Tree hollows are key structures in forest ecosystems constituting long-lasting habitats and nutritional resources for many saproxylic arthropod species. Due to diverse microhabitat structures and conditions in tree hollows, they can support a broad range of species. However, in the past intensive management practices in parts of Europe reduced the abundance of tree hollows, resulting in a decrease and endangerment of species specialised in this tree habitat. We investigated 40 beech trees with hollows in 2014 and a subset of 23 of these trees in 2015 in a managed forest landscape in Germany. Using emergence traps we collected 89 beetle species of which 33% were on the Bavarian Red List. We described the tree characteristics, physical hollow characteristics, and their surrounding environment investigating their influence on α-diversity of non-Red List and Red List species. Furthermore, we investigated spatial (between tree hollows) and temporal (same tree hollow but different years) β-diversity, considering the importance of turnover and nestedness components on β-diversity. α-Diversity decreased with increasing decomposition of wood mould and increased with increasing area of hollow entrance in both years. Additional characteristics differed between years and between non-Red List and Red List species. β-Diversity was related to diameter at breast height, number of surrounding tree hollows, area of hollow entrance and a temperature gradient. We found a higher species turnover than nestedness between tree hollows and between years, indicating highly dynamic beetle communities spatially as well as temporally. To support and maintain the diversity of saproxylic beetles inhabiting tree hollows, the heterogeneity of microhabitats is important and should be supported by maintaining the diversity of differently structured and sized tree hollows.

The larval ecology of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) influences their spatial distributions and the pathogens they transmit. These features are of special concern for deer farmers in Florida where epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) is a major source of mortality in captive herds. Rarity of larval morphological expertise leads many researchers to study larval ecology by quantifying emergence, either with field emergence traps or removing substrate from the field for observation under laboratory conditions. We investigated the comparability of these methods in Florida seepages where two recently implicated EHDV vectors, Culicoides stellifer Coquillett and Culicoides venustus Hoffman, are common. We compared the abundance and composition of emerging Culicoides collected from emergence traps with removed substrate samples (soil plugs) at three seepages. Soil plugs were sampled adjacent to the emergence trap and from underneath the trap footprint, and then monitored under laboratory conditions for 11–13 wk to compare the methods and to assess the role of incubation period for removed substrate samples. Emergence traps and removed substrate sampling largely agreed on community compositions and trends within different seepages. However, comparatively large numbers of C. stellifer emerged later than expected and well into the incubation period with emergence still occurring after 13 wk (90 d). Removed substrate samples were more similar to emergence traps at shorter incubation times. The importance of time for the capture of Culicoides in removed substrate sampling was more pronounced than we anticipated and is important from both a methodological and biological perspective.

The spectrum of Mesostigmata mite species that are phoretic on the bark beetle Ips typographus has been well described. However, phoretic mite abundance has mostly been quantified by researchers who used only a single method for capturing bark beetles: pheromone traps. We therefore compared mite abundance using two beetle-capture methods. At a single location with high numbers of I. typographus in the eastern Czech Republic in 2013, beetles were collected with pheromone traps and from infested logs placed in emergence traps. In total 29,589 I. typographus beetles were captured using the two methods. Mite abundance was assessed on 2400 beetles from pheromone traps and on 955 beetles from emergence traps; in total 5805 phoretic mesostigmatid mites were detected. Six species of phoretic mites were captured using pheromone traps and four species using emergence traps. The number of phoretic mites per beetle was higher for beetles captured in emergence traps than for beetles captured in pheromone traps. The most abundant mite species overall were Dendrolaelaps quadrisetus, Uroobovella ipidis, and Trichouropoda polytricha. The seasonal dynamics of phoretic mites paralleled the seasonal dynamics of their hosts.