A systematic review of arthropod community diversity in association with invasive plants

Invasive plants represent a significant financial burden for land managers and also have the potential to severely degrade ecosystems. Arthropods interact strongly with plants, relying on them for food, shelter, and as nurseries for their young. For these reasons, the impacts of plant invasions are likely strongly reflected by arthropod community dynamics including diversity and abundances. A systematic review was conducted to ascertain the state of the literature with respect to plant invaders and their associated arthropod communities. We found that the majority of studies did not biogeographically contrast arthropod community dynamics from both the home and away ranges and that studies were typically narrow in scope, focusing only on the herbivore feeding guild, rather than assessing two or more trophic levels. Importantly, relative arthropod richness was significantly reduced on invasive plant species. Phylogenetic differences between the invasive and local plant community as well as the plant functional group impact arthropod diversity patterns. A framework highlighting some interaction mechanisms between multiple arthropod trophic levels and native and invasive plants is discussed and future research directions relating to these interactions and the findings herein are proposed

Can Hawaiian carnivorous caterpillars attack invasive ants or vice versa?

The Hawaiian Islands have allowed insects to evolve unique habits, because the islands are isolated and originally lacked predators, such as ants and wasps. Ambush carnivorous caterpillars (_Eupithecia_ spp.; Lepidoptera: Geometridae) provide a remarkable example of a feeding behaviour unique to the Hawaiian Islands. Their prey includes various arthropods species. _Eupithecia_ larvae even attack predatory arthropods such as parasitoids. However, it is unclear whether _Eupithecia_ can attack ants. Here, I examined whether _Eupithecia orichloris_ can attack the invasive ant _Pheidole megacephala_ under laboratory conditions. _Eupithecia orichloris_ could successfully attack the minor worker of _P. megacephala_. However, the major worker of _P. megacephala_ counterattacked.
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An Evaluation of Arthropod Assemblages in Great Salt Lake Wetland Habitats: Differences Between Native and Invasive Vegetation and Implications for Restoration

Wetlands provide important habitat for various birds. Invasive plants can disrupt wetland food webs by altering the arthropod assemblages (invertebrate animals such as spiders, mites, insects, centipedes, and millipedes) on which these birds rely. However, differences between the wetland arthropods found in invasive vs. native vegetation are poorly defined. Wetlands are often managed for the creation of bird habitat through invasive species removal and native plant revegetation, yet few studies have examined the effects of these restoration methods on arthropod bird food sources. Phragmites australis (common reed), is an aggressive grass species in wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake, Utah, U.S.A. Phragmites dramatically alters the structure and composition of bird habitat by outcompeting native vegetation. While removing Phragmites can help restore bird habitat, the effects of Phragmites invasion and wetland restoration on arthropod bird food sources is unclear. Therefore, an understanding of how arthropods interact with both native vegetation and Phragmites and of arthropod assemblage changes following Phragmites removal and restoration efforts is necessary for the management of bird habitat. To address these knowledge gaps, this study identified differences in the arthropod assemblages associated with native and invasive habitats, assessed the role of restoration method in determining the arthropods found in previously-restored wetlands, and examined arthropod responses to native plant recovery following Phragmites removal. Results of this research indicated few differences between the arthropod assemblages associated with Phragmites and two native vegetation types and highlighted the importance of one native species, Salicornia rubra, which provided unique arthropod habitat. In addition, restoration method did not substantially affect the arthropods found in previously-invaded wetlands, yet Phragmites removal and native plant recovery increased arthropod abundance and activity. This research provides a framework for assessing arthropods as a food source for birds in wetlands and has several restoration implications for both the Great Salt Lake region and Phragmites-invaded wetlands across North America. By identifying the ways in which arthropods use both native and invasive vegetation and monitoring arthropods following invasive species removal and restoration, observed changes in their assemblages can offer a measure of restoration success in wetlands managed for bird habitat

Arthropods Associated With Purple Loosestrife in Illinois Wetlands

We estimated and described the arthropod fauna on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) plants in northeastern Illinois wetlands. A total of 1063 individual arthropods were collected—930 insects and 133 arachnids. The av- erage number of arthropods ranged from 19.00 to 86.75 individuals per loos- estrife plants of a single root crown. We collected individuals from twenty-five families representing 8 orders of insects. Miridae, Anthocoridae, Lygaeidae, Cicadellidae, and Aphididae were each represented by at least 50 individuals. Three orders and ten families were found that had not been previously reported as occurring on purple loosestrife, but many of these taxa were represented by only a few individuals

Differential temporal beta‐diversity patterns of native and non‐native arthropod species in a fragmented native forest landscape

An important factor that hinders the management of non‐native species is a general lack of information regarding the biogeography of non‐natives, and, in particular, their rates of turnover. Here, we address this research gap by analysing differences in temporal beta‐diversity (using both pairwise and multiple‐time dissimilarity metrics) between native and non‐native species, using a novel time‐series dataset of arthropods sampled in native forest fragments in the Azores. We use a null model approach to determine whether temporal beta‐diversity was due to deterministic processes or stochastic colonisation and extinction events, and linear modelling selection to assess the factors driving variation in temporal beta‐diversity between plots. In accordance with our predictions, we found that the temporal beta‐diversity was much greater for non‐native species than for native species, and the null model analyses indicated that the turnover of non‐native species was due to stochastic events. No predictor variables were found to explain the turnover of native or non‐native species. We attribute the greater turnover of non‐native species to source‐sink processes and the close proximity of anthropogenic habitats to the fragmented native forest plots sampled in our study. Thus, our findings point to ways in which the study of turnover can be adapted for future applications in habitat island systems. The implications of this for biodiversity conservation and management are significant. The high rate of stochastic turnover of non‐native species indicates that attempts to simply reduce the populations of non‐native species in situ within native habitats may not be successful. A more efficient management strategy would be to interrupt source‐sink dynamics by improving the harsh boundaries between native and adjacent anthropogenic habitats.Portuguese FCT‐NETBIOME – ISLANDBIODIV grant 0003/2011.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gene content evolution in the arthropods

Arthropods comprise the largest and most diverse phylum on Earth and play vital roles in nearly every ecosystem. Their diversity stems in part from variations on a conserved body plan, resulting from and recorded in adaptive changes in the genome. Dissection of the genomic record of sequence change enables broad questions regarding genome evolution to be addressed, even across hyper-diverse taxa within arthropods. Using 76 whole genome sequences representing 21 orders spanning more than 500 million years of arthropod evolution, we document changes in gene and protein domain content and provide temporal and phylogenetic context for interpreting these innovations. We identify many novel gene families that arose early in the evolution of arthropods and during the diversification of insects into modern orders. We reveal unexpected variation in patterns of DNA methylation across arthropods and examples of gene family and protein domain evolution coincident with the appearance of notable phenotypic and physiological adaptations such as flight, metamorphosis, sociality, and chemoperception. These analyses demonstrate how large-scale comparative genomics can provide broad new insights into the genotype to phenotype map and generate testable hypotheses about the evolution of animal diversity

Distribution and genetic variability of Staphylinidae across a gradient of anthropogenically influenced insular landscapes

This paper describes the distribution and genetic variability of rove beetles (Coleoptera Staphylinidae) in anthropogenically influenced insular landscapes. The study was conducted in the Azores archipelago, characterized by high anthropogenic influence and landscape fragmentation. Collections were made in five islands, from eight habitats, along a gradient of anthropogenic influence. The species of Staphylinidae from the Azores collected for this study were widely distributed and showed low habitat fidelity. Rove beetle richness was associated with anthropogenic influence and habitat type, increasing from less to more anthropogenic impacted habitats. However, genetic diversity of profiled species (i.e. with three or more specimens per species/habitat) does not seem affected by anthropogenic influence in the different habitat types, isolation or landscape fragmentation. COI haplotypes were, as a rule, not exclusive to a given island or habitat. High level of genetic divergence and nucleotide saturation was found in closely related morphological designated species, demonstrating possible disparities between currently defined taxonomic units based on morphology and molecular phylogenies of Staphylinidae. This study found evidence of cryptic speciation in the Atheta fungi (Gravenhorst) species complex which had thus far remained undetected. Similar trends were found for Oligota parva Kraatz, Oxytelus sculptus Gravenhorst, Oligota pumilio Kiesenwetter. Previous studies with lower taxonomical resolution may have underestimated the biotic diversity reported in the Azores in comparison to other Macaronesian archipelagos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A case of silent invasion : citizen science confirms the presence of Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) in Central America

Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) is a globally invasive ladybird. It has been intentionally introduced in many countries as a biological control agent, whereas it has been unintentionally released in many others. Climatic factors are important in limiting the spread of H. axyridis. For example, very few records are known from tropical or desert regions. Currently, no published reports are known from Central America. Here, we report H. axyridis from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Puerto Rico. Specimens were either observed by the authors, discovered in dried insect collections, or retrieved from searching through online photographs available from the citizen science project iNaturalist and the photo-sharing website Flickr. These new records and the wide distribution of H. axyridis in Latin America suggest several invasion events, which have gone unnoticed until now. We stress the need for further, large-scale monitoring and show the advantage of citizen science to assess the presence of invasive alien species

Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle, 2004 and Ophelimus maskelli Haliday, 1844 - two new records of gall forming Eulophidae from Malta (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea)

The Eulophidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) currently accommodates more than 4,000 described species worldwide in some 300 genera (noyES, 2003). In Europe, the family is represented by about 1,100 species (GAuld & Bolton, 1988). Eleven species have previously been recorded from Malta in various scattered publications, but of these only two were reported as occurring in Malta in the Fauna Europaea database (mitroiu, 2004). The purpose of the present work is to add a further two new records of the family from Malta bringing the total number of species known from these islands to 13, and to bring together the previously recorded species in the form of a short annotated list with referencespeer-reviewe