Some aspects on biodiversity of insect fauna in Lithuanian LTER sites

• Main Authors: Rimšaitė, Jolanta, Jonaitis, Vytautas, Ivinskis, Povilas, Višinskienė, Giedrė
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Insects; Lepidoptera; Ichneumonidae; Diptera; Trichoptera; taiga
• Online Access: http://lmavb.lvb.lt/LMAVB:ELABAPDB5532217&prefLang=en_US

The paper generalises the original data of more than 30 years of investigations in the Lithuanian LTER sites (the Baltic Sea coastal area, Čepkeliai State Strict Nature Reserve, Kamanos State Strict Nature Reserve and the environs of Lake Drūkšiai). Over 3,000 insect species belonging to nine orders were recorded, with Lepidoptera and Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) as the most properly investigated insect group in the four LTER sites. The greatest number of Lepidoptera species was registered in the Čepkeliai State Strict Nature Reserve (1,020 species) and the Baltic Sea coastal area (800). In each LTER site we found by almost 50 moth families, with prevalence of Noctuidae, Geometridae, Tortricidae and Pyralidae families holding the largest number of species. The greatest (257) number of Ichneumonidae species was found in the Kamanos State Strict Nature Reserve, Baltic Sea coast area (252), with Cryptinae as a predominant subfamily. The abundance, diversity and composition of Trichoptera species represent different water bodies and their quality. Fifty nine species of caddisflies were recorded in the Baltic Sea coastal area. Forty five species (10 families) of caddisflies were found in Čepkeliai SNR, the majority of species represent the fauna characteristic of raised bogs. Forty species of fungus gnats (Mycetophilidae) were found in Čepkeliai SNR, the highest abundance and species diversity of them were found in western taiga habitats. Forty species of fungus gnats were found also in Baltic Sea coastal areas, 12.5% of them were detected in wooded dunes habitats only.