Eur. J. Entomol. 120: 52-58, 2023 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2023.008

Bark or crown? Spiders (Araneae) and beetles (Coleoptera) on trees in a city centreOriginal article

Ondřej VANĚK1, Jan WALTER ORCID...2, 3, *, Ivana HRADSKÁ2, Zdeněk FALTÝNEK FRIC ORCID...4
1 Gymnázium a Střední odborná škola, Mládežníků 1115, 337 01 Rokycany, Czech Republic; e-mail: ondras.vanek@seznam.cz
2 Museum of West Bohemia, Department of Zoology, Kopeckého sady 2, 301 00 Plzeň, Czech Republic; e-mails: jwalter@zcm.cz, ihradska@zcm.cz
3 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
4 Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; e-mail: fric@entu.cas.cz

Rapid urbanisation during the last century caused declines in species diversity. Cities encompass only a limited number of highly fragmented natural habitats and thus trees remain an important key factor for survival of local invertebrates. In 2021, we surveyed spider and beetle assemblages inhabiting trees in Pilsen city (Czech Republic). We selected 18 deciduous trees in the surroundings of the city centre and sampled bark species using corrugated cardboard bands, and crown species using a sweep net. The recorded species were evaluated using their functional traits such as habitat and humidity preferences, body size, and feeding guilds - i.e., the methods of spiders' feeding strategies. Altogether, we recorded 35 spider species/295 individuals, and 43 beetle species/265 individuals. We observed significant differences between the number of species and individuals inhabiting bark and tree crowns. Spiders tended to inhabit bark, while beetles inhabited tree crowns. The trees frequently contained species with different functional traits and with opposite requirements.

Keywords: Biodiversity, urbanisation, urban habitats, Czech Republic, secondary refuges

Received: November 14, 2022; Revised: March 1, 2023; Accepted: March 1, 2023; Published online: March 13, 2023  Show citation

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VANĚK, O., WALTER, J., HRADSKÁ, I., & FALTÝNEK FRIC, Z. (2023). Bark or crown? Spiders (Araneae) and beetles (Coleoptera) on trees in a city centre. EJE, 120, Article 52-58. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2023.008
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