Original scientific paper

Fauna of Ladybugs (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in the Vineyard Agroecosystem

Kristijan Franin ; Department of Ecology, Agronomy and aquaculture, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Božena Barić ; Department of Agricultural Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Gabrijela Kuštera ; Department of Ecology, Agronomy and aquaculture, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia

Abstract

Components of ecological infrastructure in vineyard agroecosystems
such as wildflower strips, vineyard edges, vegetation between rows and weed margins in fields play an important role in organic plant production. The composition of weeds (as elements of the ecological infrastructure) and their influence on abundance and biodiversity of ladybugs was researched in this paper. The present study was conducted from May to October (2011–2012) in the vineyard region of Zadar (Northern Dalmatia – Croatia). Ladybugs (Coleoptera:
Coccinellidae) were sampled by the sweep net method and visual
inspection of plants. A total of 180 individuals of ladybugs were collected during this research. The most abundant species appearing in all localities were Hippodamia variegata (Goeze, 1777) (41.1 %) and Scymnus spp. (23.8 %). Other Coccinellids included Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758), Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata (Linnaeus, 1758) and Stethorus punctilum (Weise, 1891) but
were less presented. Diversity indices varied between sites. The highest value was recorded at the locality Bokanjac (2.41), whereas the lowest was seen at the site Posedarje (1.00). The maximum similarity index (0.90) was recorded between Bokanjac and Suhovare, while the minimum was (0.60) between Bokanjac and Posedarje. Among plants the main weed species hosting ladybugs were Anthemis arvensis(Linnaeus, 1753), Daucus carota (Linnaeus,
1753), Dittrichia viscose (Greuter, 1973) and Chenopodium album (Linnaeus, 1753).

Keywords

vineyard; ladybugs; ecological infrastructure; weeds

Hrčak ID:

136537

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/136537

Publication date:

8.12.2014.

Article data in other languages: croatian

Visits: 2.272 *