Endemics Versus Newcomers: the Ladybird Beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Fauna of Gran Canaria
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
insects Article Endemics Versus Newcomers: The Ladybird Beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Fauna of Gran Canaria Jerzy Romanowski 1,* , Piotr Ceryngier 1 , Jaroslav Vetrovec˘ 2, Marta Piotrowska 3 and Karol Szawaryn 4 1 Institute of Biological Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszy´nskiUniversity, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] 2 Buzulucká, 1105 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic; [email protected] 3 Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences UKSW, ul. Wóycickiego 1/3, PL-01-938 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] 4 Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 18 August 2020; Accepted: 14 September 2020; Published: 18 September 2020 Simple Summary: Many plants and animals that live in the Canary Islands belong to the so-called endemic species, i.e., they do not occur outside of this particular region. Several other species have a slightly wider geographical distribution, apart from the Canaries, which also includes some islands of the nearby archipelagos, such as Madeira or the Azores, or the northwestern periphery of Africa. Here, we call such species subendemics. However, the Canary Islands have recently been colonized by a substantial number of immigrants from more or less remote areas. In this paper, based on our field survey and previously published data, we analyzed the fauna of the ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) of Gran Canaria, one of the central islands of the archipelago. Among 42 ladybird beetle species so far recorded on this island, 17 (40%) are endemics and subendemics, and 21 (50%) probably arrived in Gran Canaria relatively recently, i.e., in the 20th and 21st century. Of those newcomers, there are Australian, American, African, and European species. The nonnative ladybird species may pose a threat to the unique ladybird communities from Gran Canaria and other islands of the archipelago. Abstract: Research on the fauna of beetles (Coleoptera) of the Canary Islands has a long tradition, which enables tracking changes in their species composition and arrival of new species. In this paper, we provide new faunistic data on the ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) recorded on Gran Canaria, one of the central islands of the archipelago, and then analyze available information on the Gran Canarian ladybird fauna from geographical and historical points of view. The field survey resulted in recording 1402 ladybird individuals belonging to 30 species. Ten of these species were new to Gran Canaria and three of them, Chilocorus bipustulatus (Linnaeus), Nephus bisignatus (Boheman), and Nephus ulbrichi Fürsch, had not previously been reported to be on any of the islands of the Canarian archipelago. Tetrabrachys tinerfensis (Hodgson) is synonymized with T. deserticola (Wollaston). Our survey and literature reports allowed us to recognize 42 species of Coccinellidae so far recorded on Gran Canaria. Seventeen of them (40%) belonged to the Canarian endemic and subendemic species, and 21 (50%) were newcomers and presumed newcomers. Colonization of Gran Canaria and other islands of the archipelago by ladybird species of various origins seems to be a frequent phenomenon that may pose a threat to the unique communities of the native Canarian species. Keywords: biodiversity; Canary Islands; alien species; new records Insects 2020, 11, 641; doi:10.3390/insects11090641 www.mdpi.com/journal/insects Insects 2020, 11, 641 2 of 20 1. Introduction Insects 2020, 11, x 2 of 22 A substantial portion of the Canarian biodiversity is composed of endemic species. For example, the endemism1. Introduction rate among the terrestrial arthropods is estimated to be around 38% [1,2]. The subject of our study,A the substantial Coleopteran portion family of the Coccinellidae, Canarian biodiversity has about is composed 50 recorded of endemic species inspecies. the Canaries For example, [3–5], and 14 ofthe them endemism (28%) are rate considered among the toterrestrial be endemic arthropods species is [estimated3]. However, to be manyaround of 38% the [1,2]. Canarian The subject ladybirds haveof only our recentlystudy, the arrived Coleopteran on the family archipelago. Coccinellidae, Several has such about species 50 recorded were species listed byin the Orom Canariesí et al. [3– [3] and the next5], and two 14 were of them added (28%) by are Su áconsideredrez et al. [ 5to] andbe en Romanowskidemic species et[3]. al. However, [4]. many of the Canarian Theladybirds first publishedhave only recently data on arrived the Coccinellidae on the archipelago. of the Several Canary such Islands species came were fromlisted theby Oromí early 19th centuryet al. [6 –[3]8]. and Then, the next significant two were contributions added by Suárez to the et knowledge al. [5] and Romanowski of the Canarian et al. ladybirds [4]. were made by Wollaston[The9,10 first], Uyttenboogaart published data [on11 ,the12], Coccinellidae Korschefsky of [13 the], Lindberg Canary Islands [14], and came Fürsch from [15the]. early More 19th recently, furthercentury reports [6–8]. were Then, provided significant by various contributions authors, to th ande knowledge the available of the data Canarian were summarized ladybirds were by made Machado by Wollaston [9,10], Uyttenboogaart [11,12], Korschefsky [13], Lindberg [14], and Fürsch [15]. More and Oromí [16], Eizaguirre [17], and Oromí et al. [3]. Despite this long history of studying ladybird recently, further reports were provided by various authors, and the available data were summarized faunaby in Machado the Canary and Islands, Oromí [16], the speciesEizaguirre composition [17], and Oromí on individual et al. [3]. islands Despite has this not long been history suffi ofciently documented.studying ladybird Our recent fauna surveys in the Canary on Fuerteventura Islands, the species [4,18], composition Lanzarote [on19 ],individual and El Hierro islands [ 20has] allowednot us tobeen record sufficiently many ladybird documented. species Our not recent previously surveys reported on Fuerteventura to be on those[4,18], islands.Lanzarote [19], and El ThisHierro paper [20] allowed concerns us to the record Coccinellidae many ladybird on another species not island previously of the reported archipelago, to be on Gran those Canaria. islands. First, we provideThis new paper faunistic concerns data, the andCoccinellidae then analyze on another available island information of the archipelago, on the Gran Gran CanarianCanaria. First, ladybird faunawe from provide the geographical new faunistic (distributional data, and then patterns) analyze andavailable historical information (dates ofon records)the Gran points Canarian of view. ladybird fauna from the geographical (distributional patterns) and historical (dates of records) points 2. Studyof view. Area, Materials, and Methods The2. Study Canary Area, Islands Materials, lie in and the Methods northeast Atlantic Ocean near the African coast and are comprised of seven main islands and several islets. High biodiversity combined with diversification of the islands The Canary Islands lie in the northeast Atlantic Ocean near the African coast and are comprised with respect to the size, age, landforms, and distance from the continent [1,2] make the archipelago an of seven main islands and several islets. High biodiversity combined with diversification of the excellentislands system with forrespect biogeographical to the size, age, analyses. landforms, and distance from the continent [1,2] make the Granarchipelago Canaria an isexcellent one of system the central for biogeographical islands of the Canariananalyses. archipelago, located some 200 km from the AfricanGran mainland. Canaria is It one was of formedthe central about islands 14.5 of millionthe Canarian years archipelago, ago as a result located of volcanicsome 200 eruptionskm from [2]. Of nearlythe African circular mainland. shape, the It was island formed is elevated about 14.5 to 1950 million m a.s.l.years at ago its as highest a result point of volcanic (Pico de eruptions las Nieves) [2]. [21]. The vegetationOf nearly circular of Gran shape, Canaria the includesisland is elevated a wide range to 1950 of m habitats, a.s.l. at its such highest as coastal point dunes,(Pico de scrub las Nieves) vegetation with Euphorbia[21]. The vegetationspp., or pine of Gran forests Canaria with includesPinus canariensis a wide rangeD. Smith. of habitats, In anthropogenic such as coastal habitats, dunes, decorativescrub plantsvegetation sustained with by irrigation Euphorbia arespp., cultivated or pine forests (Figure with1). Pinus canariensis D. Smith. In anthropogenic habitats, decorative plants sustained by irrigation are cultivated (Figure 1). FigureFigure 1. Some 1. Some of the of the habitats habitats surveyed surveyed in in thisthis study. ( (AA) )Dunes Dunes in in Maspalomas; Maspalomas; (B) (ScrubB) Scrub vegetation vegetation with Euphorbia spp.; (C) Pine forest with Pinus canariensis; (D) Park vegetation in Maspalomas. with Euphorbia spp.; (C) Pine forest with Pinus canariensis; (D) Park vegetation in Maspalomas. Insects 2020, 11, 641 3 of 20 2.1. Faunistic Survey Ladybirds were recorded at 55 sites on Gran Canaria (Table1) using standard collecting methods, such as beating tray, sweeping net, or direct observation. Although some of the caught ladybird individuals were released after their identification, each individual was noted. The majority of specimens were recorded by J. Romanowski and P. Ceryngier