The neuropteran assemblage (Insecta) of a pine forest in the Republic of Tatarstan revealed by crown bait traps
V. N. Makarkin1, A. B. Ruchin2, Yu. A. Lukyanova3
1Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
2Joint Directorate of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park “Smolny”, Saransk, Russia
3National Park “Nizhnyaya Kama”, Elabuga, Russia
Keywords: Neuroptera, the Republic of Tatarstan, fauna, pine forest, neuropteran assemblage
Abstract
The Neuroptera of the pine Tanaika Forest in the Republic of Tatarstan were studied using five beer-and-sugar bait crown traps operated continuously from 30 April to 1 October, 2021. The chrysopids Apertochrysa prasina and Chrysotropia ciliata clearly dominate among 1043 collected specimens (17 species). The number of species stenotopic for pines (Chrysopa dorsalis and Wesmaelius concinnus) is very low. The large number of Chrysopidae in this forest, normally characteristic of a deciduous forest, and the rarity of species characteristic of pines, can be explained by the fact that the traps mainly attract Neuroptera that feed at imaginal stage on pollen and honeydews, whereas almost all species characteristic of pines are predators. In addition, the traps on pine trees were located at a relatively low height (4-5 m from the ground), and so they attracted more specimens from the nearest deciduous trees and deciduous undergrowth than from pines, whose canopies are located much higher. Eleven species of Neuroptera are recorded from the Republic of Tatarstan for the first time; thirty-two species are now known from the region.
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