engleski

Carabids as predators of forest pest moths-molecular detection of trophic interactions after carabid gut content analyses

Predatory carabid beetles are important for regulating the abundance of many pest species in arable as well as in forest ecosystems. Molecular gut content analysis (MGCA) have made further advances in identifying complex trophic interactions that were difficult to identify using traditional methods. So far, the advantages of MGCA have been used primarily to reveal pest species in arable fields, while surveys of trophic interactions between invertebrates in forest ecosystems are rather scarce. In addition, existing data about predation of well known food specialists, such as the caterpillar hunting Calosoma beetles, and studies about controlling moth populations have been insufficient. Previous studies in forest ecosystems showed that Lepidopteran insects represent a substantial part in carabids diet. Here we used MGCA to screen the carabid guts for the presence of defoliator, the winter moth Operophtera brumata, a severe pest of deciduous trees and shrubs. Of 180 individual carabids, sampled using ground pitfall traps in two forests sites and tested for winter-moth presence in their guts, 10% were positive. The surveyed forests were placed in the edge of the moth distribution, thus higher proportions of detected predations by carabids could be expected at forest sites placed in centre of the O. brumata distribution. These preliminary results suggest that carabids could be significant predators of this moth pest in woodland ecosystems and may potentially play an important role in controlling its populations.

Carabid beetles; caterpillars; winter moth; molecular gut content analyses; soil fauna; forests

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