Ecological and faunistic survey of the true bugs of the infraorder Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera) in the urban cenoses of Kharkiv City (Ukraine)

A total of 63 species of true bugs in 53 genera and 11 families of the infraorder Pentatomomorpha was recorded from the city of Kharkiv. For one species, Carpocoris purpureipennis (Pentatomidae), we obtained the first record from Left-Bank Ukraine. Formerly, this species was known from Western and Central Ukraine only. Four species of the family Lygaeidae (Nysius ericae, Perithrechus geniculatus, P. gracilicornis, Taphropeltus contractus) are new to Kharkiv Region. The families Lygaeidae (23 species of 19 genera, 38.3% of the total collected bugs), Pentatomidae (16 species of 14 genera, 26.7%), Rhopalidae (7 species of 5 genera, 11.7%), and Coreidae (6 species of 6 genera, about 3%) were the most rich in species and individual numbers. The families of Berytidae, Cydnidae and Scutelleridae were represented by two species each (3.3% out of the total collected bugs). Six species (Myrmus miriformis, Lygaeus equestris, Scolopostethus pictus, Aelia acuminata, Graphosoma lineatum, and Pyrrhocoris apterus) were abundant, eight species common, 14 species rare, and 32 species belonged to occasional elements of the urban cenoses. The true bug species composition and individual abundance were the highest in the suburban meadows and large city parks (44 and 27 species, respectively). By contrast, only seven species were registered in the green areas of the city centre (lawns, public gardens). Faunal similarity (Jaccard / Chekanovsky-Sørensen indices) of the true bug assemblages was the lowest when comparing public gardens of the city centre with the habitats of the suburbs and city parks (0.04–0.06 / 0.07–0.12), and the highest between the meadows and urban parks with glades and grassy vegetation under low recreational pressure (0.52 / 0.68). Jaccard similarity indices for the other six pairs of compared urban cenoses were low (0.1‒0.42). The average Pentatomomorpha similarity in different urban cenoses was also low (Jaccard index 0.27, Chekanovsky-Sørensen index 0.39). The essential faunal differences can be explained by both the low number of most Pentatomomorpha species and their ecological peculiarities. The proportions of various ecological groups of bugs in different urban cenoses were analyzed and discussed. Major differences were observed in the species habitat distributions while the lesser differences concerned trophic groups and hygropreferences of most species. Hortobiont and herpetohortobiont polyphytophagous species dominated all the habitats

Local taxonomic spectra in plants, animals, fungi and terrestrial protists show common mathematical patterns

Taxonomic spectra, i.e. relations between supraspecific taxa by the number of included species, remain poorly understood in aspect of the mathematical properties. We studied taxonomic spectra of plants (Magnoliophyta, Bryophyta), animals (Coleoptera, Aves), fungi (Agaricomycetes) and terrestrial protists (Myxomycetes), found in the Homilsha Forests National Nature Park (North-East of Ukraine), and concluded that they correspond to the hollow-curve distribution at the level of genera, families and orders. The spectra of most taxa, as shown by the Akaike information criterion, are closely approximated by the log-series distribution model at all taxonomic levels. This type of distribution is typical for the species abundance curves, based on collections made from small areas. At the same time, in the genera–families–orders row the similarity to the lognormal distribution increases. The central values and variability vary considerably between different taxonomic groups and ranks, however, without affecting the type of distribution. The number of orders in all taxa except Bryophyta has reached the saturation and coincides with the curve of the estimated number of orders according to the Chao1 coefficient. For families and especially genera the correspondence with estimated number of species is much lower. Our results do not confirm the assumption that hollow-curve distributions of taxonomic spectra result from the artificial fragmentation of taxa. These distributions neither depend on the insufficient knowledge about the species composition at the locality, nor reflect the size of the studied area. The presence of such distributions in both local and global biota of different groups may be explained by the common features of their evolution, especially by the existence of relict orphan groups. The fact that in Homilsha Forests the kurtosis and skewness of distributions decreases in the genera–families–orders row can therefore be explained by the relatively low percentage of the high-rank orphan taxa in the local biota. This may be a common feature of communities studied at small geographical scale, since orphan taxa often demonstrate a high level of endemism. Comparative studies of local communities from different climate zones may help to understand how universal are the patterns, described herein