Communities of epigeic beetles were studied on five forest habitats with the different age structure in the Novohradské foothills area (Český Krumlov district, South Bohemia, Czech Republic). All studied habitats were found in three managed forests. The method of pitfall trapping was used for beetle sampling. There were 2735 specimens trapped. 25 beetles species were divided into two groups by its ecological preferences to the degree of human impact. Index of antropogenic influence had better values in two oldest studied habitats. Species diversity was higher in the oldest habitats too. The results indicate less human impact in mature managed forests than clearings and young managed forest stands.

The content of the thesis was research and study of the epigeal beetle communities at three different sites in the cadastral municipality Mačice near village Soběšice in Western Region. Habitats were managed under organic farming. Specifically there were three different sites, a field sown triticale, meadow and pasture. Method of pitfall traps was used for the collection of biological material. In total, there were intercepted and identified 640 individuals from 57 species and 14 families in the reporting period. In all of the habitats, species of beetles family (Carabidae) (23 species) were mostly represented, followed by family rove beetles (Staphylinidae) (11 species) and family carrion (Silphidae) (6 species). Most individuals were found at the field habitat with the numbers in total of 255 (30 species from 8 families), followed by habitat meadow with 198 individuals (36 species from 9 families) and the pasture habitat with 187 individuals (34 species from 10 families). The species spectrum of epigeal beetles was divided into groups according to the sensitivity to anthropogenic influences. Species that do not have special requirements on the quality and nature of the environment (group E) dominated in all habitats with 48 species. Total of nine species inhabiting habitats moderately affected by human activities (group R2) were found in all habitats, the least of them occurred in the field (1 species) , pasture (5 species) and at the meadow were found most (6 species). Index of anthropogenic impacts shows that these are very heavily modified habitats. When comparing individual sites, field habitat (ISD 1,67 %) was found to be the most affected. The least affected was the meadow habitat (ISD 8,34 %). As a result we can conclude that the hypothesis that organic farming has a positive impact on biodiversity was not confirmed.

Com o objetivo de analisar a fauna de himenópteros parasitoides (Hymenoptera:Chalcididae) e de coleobrocas (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) associados à cultura de T. grandis, foram utilizadas 5 armadilhas de Malaise instaladas no interior da floresta plantada. As coletas foram realizadas, semanalmente, de outubro de 2009 a setembro de 2010, em área de reflorestamento situado no município de Cáceres, MT. Foram analisados os índices faunísticos de frequência, constância, abundância e dominância e também diversidade de espécies. Foram coletados 414 parasitoides; pertencentes às famílias Chalcididae e distribuídos em 3 gêneros e 16 espécies e 715 espécies de coleobrocas, pertencentes à família Cerambycidae e distribuídos em 2 subfamílias, 18 tribos, 33 gêneros e 36 espécies. As espécies de parasitoides mais abundantes foram Brachymeria pandora e Ceyxia ventrispinosa. As espécies mais abundantes de coleobrocas foram Neoclytus pusillus, Achryson surinamum, Chlorida festiva, Coleoxestia atrata, Cosmoplatidius abare, Hexoplon uncinatum e Megacyllene acuta. / This research deals with the association of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) with wood borers (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in a commercial forest of Tectona grandis located in Cáceres, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The insects were collected by using five Malaise traps in different sites of the forest, from October 2009 to September 2010. The following indexes were analyzed: frequency, constancy, abundance, dominance and species diversity. A total of 414 Chalcididae parasitoids and 715 Cerambycidae wood borers were collected. The most abundant parasitoid species were Brachymeria pandora and Ceyxia ventrispinosa while the most wood borers ones were Neoclytus pusillus, Achryson surinamum, Chlorida festiva, Coleoxestia atrata, Cosmoplatidius abare, Hexoplon uncinatum and Megacyllene acuta.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-26T14:53:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarinoMilocaRodrigues.pdf: 593457 bytes, checksum: cd4019e76af6e993c2f06955758802ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-04 / Dung beetles diversity (Scarabaeoidea) caught in traps baited with bovine faces in the Brazilian Southwestern: comparing areas with pasture, agriculture and forest. Dung Beetles are important for biological control of intestinal worms and dipterans of economic importance to the livestock, because these beetles use dung as food and site to reproduction. Also they are very useful as bioindicator of diversity. The aim of this paper is to study the species richness, species abundance, of dung beetles, and if there is difference these attributes in three environments (pasture, agriculture and forest) in the municipality of Dourados, State of Mato Groso do Sul. A total of 105 samplings were carried out weekly, from November 2005 to November 2007, using three pitfall traps in each environment. The tramps were baited with fresh bovine dung. Were caught 44,355 adults of dung beetles from 54 species: two of Hyborosidae and 52 of Scarabaeidae. Five species were constant, very abundant and dominant on the pasture, two in the agriculture and two in the forest. The most of the species were accessory, common and no dominant. The species with higher abundance was Ataenius platensis Blanchard, 1844. The Shannon-wiener index of diversity, were: 2.90 in the pasture, 2.84 in the agriculture and 2.66 in the forest. The dung beetles medium presence in the positive traps in each environments, were: 36.88, 42.73 and 20.18 individuals per traps, in the pasture, agriculture and in the forest, respectively. The pasture environment presented higher diversity index. The diversity was bigger where there were right abundance and regularity of food / Diversidade de coleópteros coprófagos (Scarabaeoidea) capturados em armadilhas com fezes bovinas no sudoeste brasileiro: comparando áreas com pastagem, agricultura e floresta. Coleópteros coprófagos são importantes (especialmente Scarabaeidae) para controle biológico de vermes gastrointestinais e de dípteros de importância econômica para a pecuária, pois esses besouros utilizam excrementos como alimento e sítio para reprodução. Eles são também de grande utilidade como bioindicadores da diversidade. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a riqueza em espécies, a abundância, de besouros coprófagos e se estes atributos são diferentes nos três ambientes (pastagem, agricultura e mata) no município de Dourados-MS. Foram realizadas 105 avaliações semanais, de novembro de 2005 a novembro de 2007, utilizando-se três armadilhas pitfall em cada ambiente. Estas foram iscadas com fezes frescas de bovinos. Foram coletados 44.355 adultos de 54 espécies: duas de Hyborosidae e 52 de Scarabaeidae. Cinco espécies foram constantes, muito abundantes e dominantes na pastagem, duas na área agrícola e duas na mata. A maioria das espécies foi considerada acessória, comum e não-dominante. A espécie que apresentou maior abundância foi Ataenius platensis Blanchard, 1844. Os índices de diversidade de Shannon-Wiener, foram: de 2,90 na pastagem, 2,84 na área agrícola e 2,66 na mata. A presença média de coleópteros coprófagos nas armadilhas positivas nos três ambientes foi de 36,88, 42,73 e 20,18 indivíduos por armadilha na pastagem, na área agrícola e na mata, respectivamente. O ambiente de pastagem apresentou maior índice de diversidade. A diversidade foi maior onde houve maior abundância e regularidade de alimentos

Wolbachia (Alphaproteobacteria) is an inherited endosymbiont of arthropods and filarial nematodes and was reported to be widespread across insect taxa. While Wolbachia’s effects on host biology are not understood from most of these hosts, known Wolbachia-induced phenotypes cover a spectrum from obligate beneficial mutualism to reproductive manipulations and pathogenicity. Interestingly, data on Wolbachia within the most species-rich order of arthropods, the Coleoptera (beetles), are scarce. Therefore, we screened 128 species from seven beetle families (Buprestidae, Hydraenidae, Dytiscidae, Hydrophilidae, Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, and Noteridae) for the presence of Wolbachia. Our data show that, contrary to previous estimations, Wolbachia frequencies in beetles (31% overall) are comparable to the ones in other insects. In addition, we used Wolbachia MLST data and host phylogeny to explore the evolutionary history of Wolbachia strains from Hydraenidae, an aquatic lineage of beetles. Our data suggest that Wolbachia from Hydraenidae might be largely host genus specific and that Wolbachia strain phylogeny is not independent to that of its hosts. As this contrasts with most terrestrial Wolbachia–arthropod systems, one potential conclusion is that aquatic lifestyle of hosts may result in Wolbachia distribution patterns distinct from those of terrestrial hosts. Our data thus provide both insights into Wolbachia distribution among beetles in general and a first glimpse of Wolbachia distribution patterns among aquatic host lineages.

El estudio de las 64 especies de Coleópteros Hydradephaga encontradas en la cuenca del río Segura, se ha organizado en tres apartados: 1) Faunístico, morfológico y sistemático; 2) Biogeográfico; 3) Ecológico. Dentro del apartado Faunístico, morfológico y sistemático, se ha hecho una revisión bibliográfica de las especies encontradas indicando:- Nombre y sinonimias más importantes.- Características morfológicas más relevantes, acompañadas con dibujos originales del cuerpo y la genitalia.- Distribución general (local, peninsular y paleártico occidental).- Biología y ecología: donde se contrasta la información obtenida con la bibliográfica.- Estatus: donde se apuntan observaciones sobre la conveniencia de proteger determinadas especies, dentro y/o fuera de la zona de estudio, teniendo en cuenta su distribución general y el grado de amenaza en el que se encuentran. En el apartado de Biogeografía, se realiza en primer lugar, un estudio corológico, con el fin de conocer el origen y características zoogeográficas de la fauna de Hydradephaga presente en la cuenca del Segura. En segundo lugar, para detectar las relaciones faunísticas con otras áreas geográficas próximas, se estudia la afinidad o grado de comunicación entre sus faunas, utilizando índices de diversidad taxonómica y de similaridad. Estos aspectos, se tratan a dos niveles de percepción espacial: Areas geográficas de la subregión paleártica occidental por un lado y cuencas hidrográficas de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares por otro. En este segundo nivel, también se indican las especies características para lo grupos de cuencas afines, tanto por su presencia como por su ausencia. En el apartado de Ecología, el estudio de los Hydradephaga se desarrolla a un nivel de percepción más detallado: hábitats y microhábitas que colonizan en la cuenca del Segura. Así, mediante el empleo de técnicas estadísticas y multivariantes, se han podido conocer las características macro y microambientales que mejor determinan la distribución de las especies, así como los grupos cenológicos asociados a los 17 tipos de hábitats detectados dentro de la zona de estudio. Finalmente, a partir de la información ecológica obtenida y teniendo en cuenta criterios de riqueza y rarera, se han podido catalogar las especies de Hydradephaga y los hábitats que ocupan según su interés de conservación.

SUMMARY The assemblages of epigeic beetles were studied in various types of agroecosystems in the submontaneous area of Novohradske hory (South Bohemia, Czech republic). The research took place in years 2009 and 2011. There were sown various types of crops, in the target places, on which were established either biobelts (research 2009) or permanent green belts with trees and shrubs (research 2011) in past. The aim of the study was to assess, whether or how these landscape structures influence epigeic beetles. The datas were gathered by sampling ground beetles with ground traps. The collected material was put then through identification and this was the base for assessing the parameters of landscape structures influence on epigeic beetles. These parameters were: the species diversity, the abundance and the ammount of relict species. It was collected 3099 beetles and it was managed to identify 54 species at all. The interest groups of invertebrates were ground beetles/carabids (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae). The results differed for both groups. The rove beetles were generally more abundant, than ground beetles and most of them were found in crops in the year 2009. The lowest numbers were caught in crops 2011. There was a quite remarkable contrast between these two results. The species diversity of rove beetles was too lower, than the ground beetles? one. The results of biodiversity seemed to be strange so as the abundance was. The diversity was the highest in the crops 2009 and the slowest in the crops 2011. Nearly the same diversity was found in biobelts, which are really different type of habitat. The carabids? abundance was not so oscillating like by the rove beetles. They were the most abundant in biobelts and the less in permanent belts. The abundance in crops in both years was nearly the same. The species diversity was highest in permanent belts and the lowest in crops in the year of 2009. The results about antropic influence on epigeic beetles assemblages, based on ecological characteristics of beetles, were eventually raised. It was established, that all the populations are strongly affected by human. The results say, that habitats like biobelt and permanent belt seem to have a positive impact on epigeic beetles assemblages, namely on relict or rare beetles survival. The results have very disparate and sometimes contradictory nature, thus cannot be sumarized.

SUMMARY Communities of epigeic beetles were studied on two water catchments with the different management in the submontaneous area of Bohemian Forest (South Bohemia, Czechia). The Mlýnský stream catchment was characteristic by high representation of unforested habitats (pastures and mowed meadows), Horský stream by higher proportion of forested habitats and non equal management (plots without management, mowed meadows). The microclimatic characteristics (average temperature, average humidity, average wind speed, average radiation) were measured. The method of pitfall trapping was used for beetle sampling. Beetles species were divided into two groups after its preferences to humidity: hygrophilous species and mesophilous species. The degree of human impact was studied by finding of frequency of species of different ecological groups. 57 species was found in the Mlýnský stream and 33 in the Horský stream. The activity of beetles was about five times higher in Mlýnský stream (511 individuals captured) than in the Horský stream (114 indivuduals found). Ubiquitous species prevail in Mlýnský stream and adaptive species in the Horský stream. Stenotopic species were found in the Mlýnský stream only. These results indicate less human impact in Horský stream than in the Mlýnský stream. Frequency of beetle species with the different requirement on the humidity in communites on studied plots indicates the dominance of mesophilous species in Mlýnský stream in comparison with Horský stream. Frequency of hygrophilous species was about three times higher in Horský stream than in Mlýnský stream. The intensity of management affected the beetle structure mainly on the less forested plot of Mlýnský stream. The structure of communites on plots with more intensive management differs from communities on plots with low management. Hygrophilous species prevail on plots with low management of the Mlýnský stream. The effect of management intensity is not documented in Horský stream with the greater proportion of trees.

Communities of epigeic beetles were studied on two water catchments with the different management in the submontaneous area of Bohemian Forest (South Bohemia, Czechia). The Mlýnský stream catchment was characteristic by high representation of unforested habitats (pastures and mowed meadows), Horský stream by higher proportion of forested habitats and non equal management (plots without management). The biomass characteristics (above ground and dry) were measured on studied plots. The method of pitfall trapping was used for beetle sampling. Beetle species were divided into two groups after its preferences to shaded: species occurring in unshaded habitats and species occurring in shaded habitats. The degree of human impact was studied by finding of frequency of species of different ecological groups. The above ground biomass was about 2 time higher in Mlýnský stream than in the Horský stream. The dry biomass was practically the same. 57 species was found in the Mlýnský stream and 33 in the Horský stream. The activity of beetles was about five times higher in Mlýnský stream than in the Horský stream. Ubiquitous species prevail in Mlýnský stream and adaptive species in the Horský stream. Stenotopic species were found in the Mlýnský stream only. These results indicate less human impact in Horský stream than in the Mlýnský stream. Beetles prefering unsheded habitats slightly prevail in Mlýnský stream in comparison with Horský stream. Beetle species characteristical for shaded habitats occur in Horský stream in comparison with Mlýnský stream. The geographical exposition affected the beetle structure mainly in the less forested plot of Mlýnský stream. The structure of communites situated to the south differs from communities situated to the north in Mlýnský stream. The effect of exposition is not documented in Horský stream with the greater proportion of forested size.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-26T14:53:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CarlaCristinaDutra.pdf: 1092589 bytes, checksum: 04438f8333358adca1827a37834f4d61 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-30 / Genetic engineering has created genetically modified (GM) varieties of many crops that express the toxin from the bacterium Cry Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt). The Cry toxin has insecticidal properties, is synthesized during growth of the plant, and can be expressed in any part of it. To evaluate the impact of this technology on the environment, this study aimed to find the effect of GM cotton resistant to insects on the fauna of Formicidae and Coleoptera. The field sample was a commercial area located in the municipality of Maracajú, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. There were two treatments: Bt cotton and non-Bt cotton, and 20 samples were taken in each treatment during the reproductive period of cotton in the 2007/2008 crop season. The samplings were done by interception pitfall traps. It was used the paired t test for each day of collection to compare the occurrence of species in both treatments. Seeking to obtain gradients of community structure of Formicidae and Coleoptera based on species composition, it was used the technique of ordering by hybrid multidimensional scaling (HMDS). The studied Bt cotton area negatively affected the fauna of Formicidae, because of the species richness in Bt cotton was lower when compared to non-Bt cotton, and the species of this family occurred in non-Bt crops were different from those presented in Bt. The fauna of Coleoptera was also affected by Bt crop, as the species that make up the community assessed in Bt crops are different from those that make the non-Bt crop. The fact that negative results were observed regarding the impact on entomofauna in an area with little time under cultivation of Bt cotton, strengthens the possibility of further changes in the long term / A engenharia genética tem criado variedades geneticamente modificadas (GM) de muitos cultivos que expressam a toxina Cry da bactéria Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt). Essa toxina tem propriedades inseticidas e é sintetizada durante o crescimento da planta, podendo ser expressa em qualquer parte da mesma. Visando avaliar os impactos dessa tecnologia no ambiente, neste trabalho avaliamos o efeito do algodão GM resistente a insetos sobre a fauna de Formicidae e Coleoptera de solo. O experimento foi conduzido em uma área comercial situada no município de Maracajú, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Sendo avaliados dois tratamentos: algodão Bt e algodão não-Bt. Foram realizadas 20 amostras em cada tratamento, durante o período reprodutivo do algodoeiro na safra de 2007/2008. A amostragem foi realizada através de armadilhas de interceptação do tipo pitfall modificada. Para a análise da riqueza de espécies utilizou-se o teste t pareado por dia de coleta para comparar a ocorrência das espécies nos dois tratamentos. Buscando obter gradientes da estrutura da comunidade de Formicidae e Coleoptera baseada na composição de espécies, foi utilizada a técnica de ordenação por escalonamento multidimensional híbrido (HMDS). O algodão Bt da área estudada afetou negativamente a fauna de Formicidae, pois a riqueza de espécies no algodão Bt foi inferior quando comparada ao algodão não-Bt. As espécies de formigas ocorrentes no cultivo não-Bt foram diferentes daquelas presentes no Bt. A fauna de Coleoptera também foi afetada pelo cultivo Bt, já que as espécies que compõe a comunidade avaliada no cultivo Bt foram diferentes daquelas que compõe a cultura não-Bt. O fato de terem sido observados resultados negativos a respeito do impacto sobre a entomofauna em uma área com pouco tempo de cultivo de algodão Bt, indica a possibilidade de efeitos ainda maiores em longo prazo