Diptera) from a Tree-Hole in an Urban Park (Prešov, Slovakia)

Home , Atelestidae, Dolichopodidae, Hybotidae, Psychodidae, Psychodinae, Telmatoscopus

ISSN 2336-3193 Acta Mus. Siles. Sci. Natur., 70: 75-81, 2021 DOI: 10.2478/cszma-2021-0005 Published: online 30th June 2021, print June 2021

Hiding in plain sight: new records and endangered flies (Diptera) from a tree-hole in an urban park (Prešov, Slovakia)

Jozef Oboňa, Jan Ježek, Katarína Kanašová & Peter Manko

Hiding in plain sight: new records and endangered flies (Diptera) from a tree-hole in an urban park (Prešov, Slovakia). – Acta Mus. Siles. Sci. Natur. 70: 75-81, 2021.

Abstract: The cavities in trees (called dendrotelmata) in an urban environment stand at the periphery of researchers’ attention. This paper presents new data on the occurrence of three Diptera species considered as endangered, namely Systenus leucurus Loew, 1859, S. tener Loew, 1859 (both Dolichopodidae), and Lepiseodina rothschildi (Eaton, 1912) (Psychodidae) from just such a specific urban ecosystem in Prešov. The latter two species were also recorded for the first time in Slovakia. The distribution and conservation status of the reported species are reviewed and briefly discussed.

Key words: Dendrotelmata, Dolichopodidae, faunistics, Psychodidae, rare species, tree or rot holes, zoogeography

Introduction

A large part of terrestrial habitats, including urban biodiversity, consists of invertebrates. How much biodiversity cities ultimately support depends on the number and size of green areas and the type of habitats they contain (Kelcey 2015). One of the important factors influencing biodiversity in urban areas is the presence of trees (Stagoll et al. 2012). Especially old trees are disproportionate providers of structural elements (e.g. hollows, coarse woody debris), which are crucial habitat resources for many species (Le Roux et al. 2014). One of the habitats served by trees are dendrotelmata – water-filled tree holes, or rot holes, formed by the retention of precipitation in wood or the folds of branches or rootstocks of trees (Kitching 1971). They are predominantly found in old trees, whether living or not. Compared to other lentic aquatic ecosystems, they are easy to define and have precisely defined boundaries. By retaining small amounts of precipitation, they are reminiscent of puddles (Cantrell & McLachlan 1982). Among the most abundant inhabitants of these habitats are Diptera larvae. Water-filled tree holes have been recorded on every continent aside from Antarctica (Kitching 2004). Their occurrence is expected mainly in old trees. Mentions of the occurrence of dendrotelmata directly in cities are not common (e.g. Rotheray et al. 2001). Therefore, this work aims to bring information about interesting records of tree-hole fauna in the Slovak city of Prešov.

Methods

In 2020, the first author collected debris from a tree hole (Fig. 1) of a maple tree in Prešov, Slovakia, (1.x.2020) (see in Fig. 2) in a park near apartment buildings in town (48°59'51.6"N 21°13'21.4"E). The collected debris from the tree was transferred from the field to the laboratory and placed in a separate transparent one-litre canning jar (at room temperature of about 20°C). This jar was filled with debris to one-third of its height and closed by a piece of soft nylon fabric. The debris was moistened at weekly intervals to prevent it from drying out. This rearing unit was monitored daily. The adults that emerged from this substrate were stored in a 75% ethanol solution in a polyethylene Eppendorf vial and identified. Family Dolichopodidae was identified using Parent (1938), Naglis (2014) and Negrobov et al. (2020), family Psychodidae using Jung (1956) and Ježek (2004). The material is deposited in the Laboratory and Museum of Evolutionary Ecology, Department of Ecology, University of Prešov.

Paragraph Material examined: is the same in all species – in the following terms: Slovakia, Prešov city, reared from maple tree hole; 48°59'51.6"N 21°13'21.4"E, 7093 – (grid mapping codes of the Databank of the Slovak fauna), 250 m a.s.l.; J. Oboňa, P. Manko, K. Kanašová, leg., reared, J. Oboňa ident. (for Dolichopodidae), for Psychodidae the same – J. Oboňa, J. Ježek ident.

Fig 1: The sampling site – dendrotelma in Prešov city.

Fig 2: Map with the location of the sampling site - city of Prešov.

Results

In total, 14 flies were bred from the examined dendrotelmata material. Six of them belong to the family Psychodidae and 8 to Dolichopodidae (see following data).

Material examined

DOLICHOPODIDAE

Systenus leucurus Loew, 1859, Fig. 3

Material examined: 1 ♀, 07.xii.2020; 1♀, 08.xii.20201; 1 ♂, 13.xii.2020; 2 ♂♂, 25.xii.2020; 1 ♂, 01.i.2021; 1 ♂, 14.i.2021.

Note: A European species recorded from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland (e.g. Negrobov 1991, Pollet 2011, Oboňa et al. 2012, Naglis 2014).

Fig 3: Systenus leucurus Loew, 1859 ♂, scale bar 1 mm.

Systenus tener Loew, 1859, Fig. 4

Material examined: 1 ♂, 17.i.2021.

Note: A European species recorded from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, the Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland (e.g. Negrobov 1991, Pollet 2011, Naglis 2014). First record for Slovakia.

Fig 4: Systenus tener Loew, 1859 ♂, scale bar 1 mm.

PSYCHODIDAE

Lepiseodina rothschildi (Eaton, 1912), Fig. 5

Material examined: 1 ♀, 13.xii.2020; 1 ♀, 17.xii.2020; 1 ♀, 01.i.2021; 1 ♀, 11.i.2021; 1 ♀, 28.i.2021; 1 ♂, 10.ii.2021.

Note: A European species recorded from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, the Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Mallorca, and the Netherlands (e.g. Withers 1989, Salmela 2010, Kvifte et al. 2016, Ježek et al. 2020). First record for Slovakia.

Discussion

All of the above-listed species are considered rare in general and endangered in different European countries or are directly included in the red lists of the above-mentioned countries (see Pollet 2000, Meyer & Wagner 2011, Wagner 2016, Tingstad et al. 2017, Drake 2018, Salmela et al. 2019). Therefore, it is very interesting that these species have been found in a park in the city of Prešov, which is a site significantly affected by anthropogenic activity. On the other hand, we assume that these sites allow the presence of trees with dendrotelmata (provided they do not endanger human health and property) which are usually considered undesirable in commercial forests. The rarity of the above species does not therefore, have to be explicitly due to their environmental cleanliness claims, but rather the presence or absence of dendrotelmata in the researched area.

Fig 5: Lepiseodina rothschildi (Eaton, 1912) ♀, scale bar 1 mm.

Rot holes are one of the interesting, small, diverse, and very specific extreme aquatic ecosystems that are often overlooked. Although they are considered negative in forestry or in the care of woody plants in cities, they are undoubtedly interesting from biodiversity, island biogeography, ecosozology, and others point of view. That is why we need to devote sufficient attention to them. Therefore, further research in this area with an extended number of sites and over a longer period is much needed. Our records confirm the importance of old trees that provide conditions for the emergence of various habitats, as other studies point out (e.g. Le Roux et al. 2012, Oboňa & Ježek 2012, Lindenmayer et al. 2013).

Acknowledgements: We thank the editor and all anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive comments on the first version of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVV-16-0236, by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency, contract No. VEGA-1/0012/20, and partially by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DKRVO 2020–2023/5.I.c, National Museum, Prague, 00023272).

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Authors‘ addresses: Jozef Oboňa, Katarína Kanašová & Peter Manko, Department of Ecology, University of Prešov, 17. novembra 1, SK–08116 Prešov, Slovakia. E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

*corresponding author: [email protected]

Jan Ježek, Department of Entomology, National Museum, Cirkusová 1740, CZ–193 00 Prague 9 – Horní Počernice, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected]