PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 108(3), 2006, pp. 543-549 SPECIES COMPOSITION AND ABUNDANCE OF FLEA BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) ASSOCIATED WITH MOIST HABITATS IN ISPARTA AND BURDUR PROVINCES, TURKEY Ali Gok and Ebru Gul Aslan Siileyman Demirel University, Science and Art Faculty, Biology Department, 32260 Isparta, Turkey(e-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected]) Abstract. — An one-year survey was conducted on flea beetles associated with moist habitats in Isparta and Burdur provinces in the central part of the 'Lake District' in Turkey. Specimens were collected from various humid habitats divided into five major groups: moist meadows, marshes, moist pastures, lake sides, and stream banks. A total of 4,443 individuals belonging to 45 species were found, some of which are important pests of several wild plants. Habitat preference and relative abundance data are provided for each species. Among the genera collected in the study, Chaetocneina Stephens was the most abundant genus typically occurring in moist habitats. There was no significant difference in flea beetle species composition among the different habitat types. The highest species abundance and composition occurred in stream banks and moist meadows, whereas marshes have the lowest species abundance and composition. Key Words: Flea beetles, moist habitats, species composition, abundance, Turkey Alticinae is the largest subfamily of Chrysomelidae and can be distinguished from other Chrysomelidae by their greatly enlarged hind femora (Furth 1988). It is represented by 59 genera and more than 1,000 species in the Palearctic Region (Konstantinov and Vandenberg 1996). Alticines are highly specialized phy-tophagous insects and often follow their host plant distributions (Furth 1979, Jolivet 1988). Some of them are serious economic pests, causing direct damage and transmitting viruses; however, sev-eral, including species of Lougitarsus Berthold and Altica Miiller have been used successfully in the biological control of weeds (Booth et al. 1990). Some species of Aphthona Chevrolat are also commonly used in biological control of weeds belonging to Euphorbiaceae (Konstantinov 1998, Jonsen et al. 2001, Konstantinov et al. 2001). Flea beetles are common in almost all types of habitats. The richest flea beetle communities occur in open areas near forests or scrublands often associated with rivers or lakes and in various kinds of meadows (Konstantinov and Vanden-berg 1996). Although most alticines are terrestrial, several of them, e.g., Altica, Chaetocnema Stephens and Lougitarsus, are attracted by subaquatic plants along streams (Jolivet and Verma 2002). The Turkish Alticinae fauna consists of more than 250 species with recent contributions by Asian et al. (1999, 2002) and Gok et al. (2002, 2003, 2004). Most of these works are faunistic studies. The Alticinae in Turkey are relatively poorly
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