Dominance, activity density and prey
preferences of rove beetles (Coleoptera:
Staphylinidae) in conventionally treated
Hungarian agro-ecosystems
A. Balog1,2 *y, V. Marko´2 and P. Szarvas3
1Sapientia University, Faculty of Technical Science, Department
of Horticulture, Ro-540485, POB 9, Cp.4, Tg-Mures/Corunca, Sighisoara
str. 1C, Romania: 2Corvinus University Budapest, Faculty of Horticultural
Science, Department of Entomology, H-1052, POB 53, Hungary:
3University of Debrecen, Centre of Agricultural Science, Department
of Plant Protection, H-4015, POB 36, Hungary
Abstract
Field experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanism underlying
patterns of the rove beetle populations in apple and pear orchards (1998–2002) and
winter wheat (2006–2007) in Hungary following treatment with broad-spectrum
insecticide. The capacity of predatory staphylinid species to feed on cereal pests
was measured, with six species tested in petri dishes, in the laboratory at room
temperature. Almost 23% of the Hungarian and 13% of the European staphylinid
fauna are represented in the investigated agro-ecosystems. In orchards, 5236
individuals, belonging to 253 species, were collected. The most widely occurring
were Omalium caesum Gravenhorst, Drusilla canaliculata (F.), Dinaraea angustula
(Gyllenhal), Palporus nitidulus (F.), Xantholinus. longiventris (Olivier), X. linearis
(Olivier) and Aleochara bipustulata (L.). In winter wheat, 798 individuals and
20 species were collected, the most frequent were Staphylinus caesareus Cederh,
Tachyporus hypnorum (F.), Philonthus cognatus (Stephens), Aloconota gregaria
(Erichson), Tachyporus chrysomelinus (L.) and T. obtusus (L.). Species composition
differed by crop (apple, pear and wheat), soil composition and surrounding
habitat. Species diversity was also influenced by these parameters. In wheat, one
acute change in species composition was observed with the decline of Tachyporus
spp., which occurred equally across all farms. The consumption rate of prey by the
dominant species occurring in wheat ecosystems was relatively high; however, we
did not offer any fungal food to compare with insects’ prey.
Keywords: hedgerows, orchards, soil structure, surrounding habitat, wheat
(Accepted 5 September 2007)
Introduction
Altogether, many authors have studied the staphyilinid
fauna (Galli, 1985; Reede, 1985; Dennis et al., 1990, 1991;
Majzlan & Holecova´, 1993; Wardle et al., 1993; Heyer,
1994; Knopp, 1997; Krooss & Schaefer, 1998; Andersen,
1991, 2000; Perner & Malt, 2002) but their community
structure in conventionally treated agro-ecosystems are still
*Author for correspondence
Fax: +40 0265 206 211
E-mail: balogadalbert2002@yahoo.co.uk
yCorrespondence address: Sapientia University, Faculty of
Technical Science, Department of Horticulture, Ro-540485,
POB 9, Cp.4, Tg-Mures/Corunca, Sighisoara str. 1C,
Romania
Bulletin of Entomological Research (2008) 98, 343–353 doi:10.1017/S0007485308005622

2008 Cambridge University Press Printed in the United Kingdom
First published online 18 February 2008

little known. From Europe, Andersen (1991) presented a list
of staphylinid beetles occurring in spring barley, cabbage,
carrot, potato, strawberries and grassland fields in Norway.
The author found 103,000 specimens belonging to 226
species. The most frequent were: Aloconota gregaria
(Erichson), Anotylus rugosus (F.), Athena fungi (Gravenhorst),
Amischa analis (Gravenhorst), Tachinus signatus (Grave-
nhorst) and Philonthus cognatus (Stephens). From Canada
Levesque and Levesque (1995, 1996) presented a species list
occurring in raspberry plantations. The authors presented
81 species and 16,074 specimens (without species of the
Aleocharinae subfamily). The most abundant species were
Gyrohypnus angustatus Stephens and Tachinus corticinus
Gravenhorst. Staphylinid beetles reported from convention-
ally treated cereal ecosystems in Europe are frequent (Dennis
et al., 1990, 1991; Krooss & Schaefer, 1998; Andersen, 2000;
Perner & Malt, 2002). In wheat, the most abundant species
were Philonthus cognatus (Stephens), Tachyporus hypnorum
(F.), T. chrysomelinus (L.), T. obtusus (L.) and Stenus biguttatus
(L.). For the past 20 years, the Game Conservancy has
monitored abundances of cereal invertebrates in over 100
fields in Sussex, UK. The total number of invertebrates
(excluding Acari, Collembola and Thysanoptera) recorded
per sample has dropped by almost half in the course of
the study, corresponding to a quarter of what was present
in pre-pesticide times. This overall change was the result
of widespread decline in Araneae, Lepidoptera, Aphididae
(Hemiptera), Symphyta (Hymenoptera), Staphylinidae, Crypto-
phagidae, Lathridiidae and Lonchopteridae (Diptera); these
groups constituted 72%, on average, of the total by number
(Aebischer & Potts, 1990). Hedgerows act as a corridor of
movement and dispersal for many forest species, such as
carabids, staphylinids or even small mammals (Burel, 1996).
Crop field surroundings influence the abundance of pests
in several ways. The climatic conditions created by the
presence of a forest edge or a hedgerow, for example, gives
opportunities for several species to reproduce, especially
those that benefit from high humidity and low wind speed.
Some insect species also benefit from their winter host being
present along hedgerows, such as Rhopalosiphum padi (L.)
(Ravn & Holm, 1997; Magura & To´thme´re´sz, 1997; Magura
et al., 1997).
The functional role of rove beetles in agro-ecosystems,
the response to prey spatial heterogeneity, the aggregation
and the aphid and mildew preferences were studied by
other authors (Bryan & Wratten, 1984; Sunderland et al.,
1987; Dennis et al., 1991; Good & Giller, 1991). Bryan &
Wratten (1984) demonstrated that several species of rove
beetles aggregated in patches of aphids and presented
a positive numerical response to high aphid densities.
Under laboratory conditions, aphid predation was 1 mg
dayx1 for many of the staphylinid species, which is
more than 34% of the body weight. In gut-dissection
work carried out by Sunderland et al. (1987), three cat-
egories of food, other than aphids, were identified in the diet
of the Tachyporus spp.: non-aphid arthropods, rust and
non rust fungi. Dennis et al. (1991) showed that these
species have a positive numerical response to high density
of rusts and non-rust fungi, while aphid predation de-
creased significantly at the same time. Other species, such
as Philonthus spp., fed only with arthropods, their
aphid predation was on average 20 aphid specimens
dayx1, and there is no record of mycophagy (Good & Giller,
1991).
As part of a greater project (Apple Ecosystem Research),
faunistic studies have been carried out since 1976 to describe
the species composition of arthropod assemblages in con-
ventionally treated apple orchards in Hungary. Me´sza´ros
et al. (1984) examined apple orchards in five localities; Marko´
et al. (1995) investigated the Coleoptera communities in apple
and pear orchards in three localities, while Bogya et al. (1999)
present data about species composition of apple and pear
orchard inhabiting Araneae. Altogether, more than 2000
arthropod species were recorded; there is still little known
about the staphylinid beetles in apple and pear orchards;
and there are no records about the staphylinids occurring
in conventionally treated winter wheat (Kutasi et al., 2001;
Balog et al., 2003).
In this study, our aim was to make a thorough survey
of species composition of staphylinid fauna occurring in
economically important agricultural fields in Hungary.
Materials and methods
Characterization of the investigated ecosystems and sampling
procedures
Investigations in orchards took place over five years
(1998–2002) in 11 plantations situated in eight farms. Five
farms consisted of one apple orchard each, while three
consisted of one apple and one pear orchard (table 1). The
investigated farms were in three geographical regions with
different environmental conditions. These were agricultural
lowland environments (ALE), regularly flooded areas (RFA)
and woodland area of medium height mountains (WAM).
Four farms were located on sand and four on clay (table 1).
Plantations were treated with organophosphate insecticides
during the study period. These were applied on average ten
times each year.
Studies in wheat were performed in 2006 and 2007 in four
conventionally farmed plots (10 ha each) all surrounded by
hedgerows of different sizes. The soil structure was sandy-
loam and the treatments consisted of foliar fungicides during
Table 1. Geographical localization and characteristics of the investigated orchards.
Farms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UTM 46
60 N,
16
60 E
48
N,
18
520 E
46
30 N,
17
60 E
47
20 N,
17
50 E
47
50 N,
21
30 E
48
120 N,
21
40 E
47
360 N,
19
360 E
47
160 N,
18
60 E
Plantation apple apple apple apple apple apple pear apple pear apple pear
Soil clay clay clay sand sand clay clay sand sand sand sand
Environ. WAM WAM ALE WAM ALE ALE ALE ALE ALE RFA RFA
WAM, woodland area of medium height mountains; ALE, agricultural lowland environment; RFA, regularly flooded area.
344 A. Balog et al.