Salix transect of Europe: patterns in the most abundant chrysomelid beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) herbivores of willow from Greece to Arctic Norway

Chrysomelid beetles associated with willow (Salix spp.) were surveyed at 41 sites across Europe, from Greece (lat. 38.8 °N) to arctic Norway (lat. 69.7 °N). In all, 34 willow-associated chrysomelid species were encountered, of which eight were very abundant. The abundant species were: Crepidodera aurata Marsham, 1802 at 27 sites, Phratora vitellinae (Linnaeus, 1758) at 21 sites, Galerucella lineola (Fabricius, 1781) at 19 sites, Crepidodera fulvicornis (Fabricius, 1792) at 19 sites, Plagiodera versicolora (Laicharting, 1781) at 11 sites, Crepidodera plutus (Latreille, 1804) at nine sites, Chrysomela vigintipunctata Scopoli, 1763 at nine sites and Gonioctena pallida (Linnaeus, 1758) at eight sites. The mean number of willow associated chrysomelid morphospecies at each site was 4.2. Around 20% of the total variance in chrysomelid distribution could be accounted for by latitude, but this is mainly due to distinctive occurrence patterns at the northern and southern parts of the transect. There was a paucity of chrysomelids at Greek sites and a distinctively northern faunal composition at sites north of Poland. Considerable site-to-site variation in colour was noted, except in G. lineola, which was chromatically invariant.

Abstract licence: CC BY

34 more references, whose wording the paper’s licence keeps private.

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.