Temporal patterns and frequency spectra of the songs and stridulatory files of 14 species of the genus of the phaneropterid bush-crickets Isophya from Eastern Europe, Altai and the Caucasus are given. The sound signals of the species studied can be separated into three main types: (1) those consisting of two syllables (Isophya gracilis, I. kalishevskii, I. schneideri, I. caspica, Isophya sp. 1); (2) one syllable and series of clicks (I. modesta rossica, I. stepposa, I. taurica, I. brunneri, I. doneciana, I. altaica); (3) single repeating syllables of uniform shape and duration (I. pienensis, Isophya sp. 2 and possibly I. stysi). The acoustic signals and behaviour of eastern European, Altai and Caucasian species are compared to those of several other European species of Isophya., Roustem Zhantiev, Olga Korsunovskaya, Alexander Benediktov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A novel panel of 16 microsatellite markers, obtained by pyrosequencing of enriched genomic libraries, is reported for the flightless European bushcricket Ephippiger diurnus (Dufour) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Five multiplex and one simplex PCR protocols were optimized, and the polymorphism at the 16 loci was assessed in two natural populations from southern France. The mean allele number and (expected mean heterozygosity) were 8.94 (0.71) and 6.57 (0.70), respectively, in each population. Several loci were at Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium (HWD), possibly due to the incidence of null alleles. The occurrence of null alleles has been previously reported for this species, and it is a common feature of microsatellite loci in Orthoptera. Cross-amplification tests demonstrated the transferability of some of these loci to other ephippigerine species. The microsatellite loci reported here substantially increase the number of available loci for this species and will afford an accurate picture of E. diurnus phylogeography, the genetic structure of its populations, and an improved understanding of the evolution of male song and other sexually-selected traits in this highly variable species., Yareli Esquer-Garrigos, Michael D. Greenfield, Virginie Party, Réjane Streiff., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Travinné ekosystémy jsou významnou součástí středoevropské krajiny. Polopřirozená travinná společenstva dnes tvoří v Evropě místa s vysokou biodiverzitou, jsou velmi náchylná k degradaci a k jejich efektivní ochraně je nutné znát vlivy různých typů managementu. Neodmyslitelnými obyvateli těchto ekosystémů jsou také zástupci rovnokřídlého hmyzu (Orthoptera), kteří zde hrají důležitou roli v potravní síti. Zároveň jsou vhodným indikátorem změn stanovištních podmínek, a to zejména struktury vegetace, čehož lze využít při zjišťování dopadů různých managementových opatření. Jedním z nejběžnějších a zároveň pro hmyz nejméně vhodných typů péče je dnes mechanizovaná seč. Nevhodná péče o travinné ekosystémy může ovlivňovat druhovou bohatost jak v měřítku lokálním tak i v měřítku krajiny. Snížení negativního dopadu seče ve prospěch biodiverzity lze docílit několika způsoby - např. zmírněnou intenzitou zásahu, a to posunutím nebo vynecháním první seče, nebo ponecháním neposečených ploch., Grasslands are an important part of the Central European landscape. Seminatural grasslands are considered to be biodiversity hotspots in Europe, with high conservation value. However, they are very unstable, and for their effective conservation it is necessary to know how different management systems affect the progression of the ecosystem. Orthopterans play an important role in the food web and they are also a good indicator of changes in habitat conditions, particularly in the vegetation structure, which can be used in determining the impact of different types of conservation management. Nowadays, one of the most common and least insect-friendly type of care is mechanized hay harvesting. Improper care can affect the species richness (both, on the local and landscape scale). The negative impact of mowing can be reduced in favour of biodiversity in several ways, as described (e.g., mitigating the intensity of the process by delaying or omitting the first mowing, or leaving uncut refuges)., and Oto Kaláb.
The Tisza River Basin is an important area as it is a green corridor in which there are highly endangered habitats and a high level of biodiversity. The patterns in the species richness of invertebrates and the environmental conditions affecting these patterns are poorly studied in the grassy habitats in the lower reaches of the Tisza River Basin. The present study focuses on the effects of flooding, habitat and landscape features on the species richness of orthopterans at 24 grassland sites in two different landscapes. The relations between the explanatory variables and the pattern of diversity of orthopterans with different life-history traits were studied, using ordination and Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Although the influential factors for the different trait groups differed, we suggest that landscape features are the most important in shaping orthopteran assemblages, whereas habitat characteristics and flooding have comparatively little effect. Habitat characteristics affected only the non-xerophilous and Ensifera species and only the species richness of non-xerophilous orthopterans in flooded and non-flooded sites differed. We emphasize that even in countries where there are still considerable areas of high value natural grasslands, such as Hungary, non-protected meadows, linear grassy habitats (dikes, ditch banks, road verges, etc.) need more attention and should be given higher priority in the conservation of invertebrates., Attila Torma, Miklós Bozsó., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Two species of the genus Gryllus occur in Europe: G. campestris and G. bimaculatus. The first is widely distributed in the north-western Palaearctic, while the second, G. bimaculatus, occurs predominantly in the Mediterranean area. There is a visible pattern in the distribution of G. campestris, the insect being rare and threatened in the western part of its range, whereas it is still abundant in the east. Despite the fact that this species is commonly used in laboratory experiments, its natural populations are poorly characterised. In the present study, we analysed cricket populations from the lower Oder and Vistula River valleys in Poland. Based on the phylogeny of the mtDNA cytochrome b fragment, we found that 17% of the individuals studied had a G. bimaculatus-like mtDNA haplotype. Analyses of 11 autosomal microsatellite loci failed to reveal any clear genetic differentiation between individuals assigned to these two clades. This suggests, along with the spatial distribution of G. bimaculatus-like haplotypes, successful interbreeding of G. bimaculatus with native populations of G. campestris. However, both the nuclear data and additional analyses of two X-chromosome-linked microsatellite loci revealed incomplete introgression. Human-mediated introgression seems to be the most plausible explanation of the observed genotypic pattern such that caution needs to be taken in conservation efforts carried out in the western part of the species' range., Hanna Panagiotopoulou, Mateusz Baca, Katarzyna Baca, Paweł Sienkiewicz, Piotr Ślipiński, Michał Żmihorski., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The trade-off between flight capability and reproduction is well known in adult males of insects with wing dimorphism but the reproductive advantage of short-winged (SW) males over long-winged (LW) males appears to vary across insect taxa. In the present study, we determined the difference in the mating ability of SW and LW males of Velarifictorus ornatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) in order to evaluate whether the SW male morph has a reproductive advantage. We found that the choice of a mate depended on the female. Compared with LW males, SW males had an obvious mating advantage when both SW and LW males courted females simultaneously, and that dealation significantly enhanced the mating ability of LW males. Losing the ability to produce songs reduced the mating advantage of SW males, thereby indicating that the greater mating advantage of SW males was related to the attractiveness of the song. In addition, the difference in the mating ability of LW and SW males was not related to body size or age. These results indicate that SW males of V. ornatus have a mating advantage over their LW counterparts because their underdeveloped flight muscles allow them to devote more resources to reproduction., Lv-Quan Zhao, Huai-Lin Chai, Hong-Jun Wu, Dao-Hong ZhuU., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This paper presents biological notes on two species of Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae that emerged from old spongy-woody galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 collected in Sicily (Italy) in April 2015: Leptophyes sicula Kleukers, Odé et Fontana, 2010 (Phaneropterinae) and Cyrtaspis scutata (Charpentier, 1825) (Meconematinae). Between the end of April and the first few days of May a total of 30 neanids emerged from the galls, were reared and their life-cycle recorded. While L. sicula laid eggs in groups, C. scutata laid single eggs inside the galls; both species in a few years have adapted to exploiting this new shelter for egg laying. No interaction with the gall inducing insect was noted., Giuliano Cerasa, Bruno Massa., and Obsahuje bibliografii