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What are the main factors limiting the distribution of Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) at early-succession sites?

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Abstract

Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a conspicuous digger wasp, which is one of the most threatened species of bees and wasps in central Europe. Its distribution is restricted to sites with grey dunes or similar habitats, which B. rostrata needs for nesting. In the years 2012–2014, we have studied the ecological factors influencing the presence of this species in two localities in the Czech Republic, where this species is still relatively abundant. We found that B. rostrata needs continuity in the characteristics of the locality in time because B. rostrata avoids settling in newly emerging localities with the appropriate substrate. The decline in localities of B. rostrata in the Czech Republic correlated with habitat loss due to afforestation, incorrect conservational management, and isolation of the localities. The newly formed anthropogenic sites with fine-grained loose substrates, such as sandpits or fly ash deposits, were not colonised by B. rostrata. This is in sharp contrast with another species of the genus, Bembix tarsata, which is also endangered, but successfully settled in many bare sand patches on former lignite spoil heaps in the north-west of the country. We found that both species hunt Diptera as a prey for their larvae; both are generalists with a preference for species of the family Syrphidae. Unexpectedly, we found workers of the honeybee Apis mellifera captured as a prey for larvae of B. rostrata.

Implications for insect conservation Newly applied management tools, such as army vehicles use, manual sand scraping, or plant cover removal, have a positive effect on populations of B. rostrata, as well as on other species with similar ecological requirements.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to give thanks to Barbora Nečesaná, Veronika Pokorná and Barbora Vlčková for help with the field studies, and to Jan Doležal for performing phytocenological relevées. Libor Dvořák (Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic) identified the Tabanidae, Zbyněk Kejval (Domažlice, Czech Republic) and Thomas Pape (Copenhagen, Denmark) identified the Sarcophagidae, and Rudolf Rozkošný (Brno, Czech Republic) identified the other groups of dipterans. Our thanks belong also to all specialists, who helped with the classification of prey and parasites. Lucy Boulton corrected the English. This study was supported by the Specific Research Project of the University of Hradec Králové Nr. 2102/2020.

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  1. Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, 500 03, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

    Petr Bogusch & Karel Šilhán

  2. Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ruská 87, 100 00, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Heneberg

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10841_2021_324_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Fig. S1. Temperature and humidity graphs obtained from the dataloggers. Measured in °C. A - C - Dataloggers placed in nest sites in Bzenec, D - Datalogger placed in nest site in Plachta, E - G - Dataloggers placed on non-nesting places in Bzenec, H - J - Dataloggers placed on non-nesting sites in Plachta (TIF 3812 kb)

10841_2021_324_MOESM2_ESM.xlsx

Tab. S1. Plant species and their abundancies according to the Braun-Blanquet scale in nesting sites and non-nesting sites in Bzenec and Plachta (XLSX 11 kb)

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Bogusch, P., Heneberg, P. & Šilhán, K. What are the main factors limiting the distribution of Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) at early-succession sites?. J Insect Conserv 25, 571–583 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-021-00324-9

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