Nontarget catches of traps with chemical lures may refer to the flower‐visitation, probable pollination, and feeding of bush crickets (Ensifera: Tettigoniidae)

Abstract

The diurnal bees, lepidopterans, and other pollinators are among the most studied flower-visiting insect taxa. They mostly play distinct functions in temperate grasslands and ecotones of grassland-forest mosaics (such as in forest steppes). Although orthopterans are widely distributed in these habitats, however, their flower visitation is nearly unknown, especially in the temperate zone. During the development of traps with chemical lures to catch Lepidoptera pests, large numbers of Orthoptera were caught that provide a chance for studying the flower visitation and odor and indirectly the host plant preference of seven temperate zone Tettigoniidae species.Data on the attractivity of isoamyl alcohol-based semisynthetic lures for Meconema thalassinum and efficiency of phenylacetaldehyde-based lures on Leptophyes albovittata and Phaneroptera falcata were reported for the first time. Additionally, analysis of nature photos collected from internet sources, as part of a passive citizen science also supports the revealed preference of these species. Based on photos, the studied orthopterans mainly visit Asteraceae species including the most preferred Tanacetum vulgare, Pulicaria dysenterica, Achillea millefolium, Solidago canadensis, and Centaurea scabiosa. Based on catches of volatile traps, the first data were recorded on the attractivity of phenylacetaldehyde-and isoamyl alcohol-based lures on three temperate zone Orthoptera species. Results of a passive citizen science study strengthen these results that may increase the knowledge on the host plant and habitat preference of Orthoptera species.

Review on flower-visiting behaviour of orthopterans and setting priorities for further studies

“…Traps baited with different volatiles worked in Velyka Dobron' (West Ukraine: Transcarpathia) attracted a large number of seven Tettigonidae species, and five of them showed significant preferences to the tested volatiles: Ruspolia nitidula (Scopoli, 1786), Phaneroptera falcata (Poda, 1761), Leptophyes albovittata (Kollar, 1833), Conocephalus discolor (Thunberg, 1815) and Meconema thallasinum (De Geer, 1773). Since P. falcata and L. albovittata were attracted mainly to compounds included also in different flowers, such as Cirsium, Eupatorium, Achilea, Helianthus and Senecio species, thus it may refer to the host plant preference and flower-visiting habit of these species (Nagy et al 2023). The results are supported by former results on flower-visiting and pollination of tropical Phaneroptera brevis (Tan et al 2017b(Tan et al , 2018aTan and Tan 2017, b).…”

“…In the case of Central Europe, regarding published data and our preliminary results (Nagy et al 2023), study on flower-visiting of Tettigonoidea and Grylloidea species, especially species belonging to genera of Phaneroptera, Leptophyes, Conocephalus, Meconema, Poecilimon and Isophya can be suggested.…”

Wide Range of Brachyceran Fly Taxa Attracted to Synthetic and Semi-Synthetic Generic Noctuid Lures and the Description of New Attractants for Sciomyzidae and Heleomyzidae Families

“…Since the composition of the SBL is similar to that of fermenting liquids, its attractivity showed that these fly families prefer damaged parts or leaking sap of different plants. In other cases, this kind of volatile preference is characteristic for species living in forests and forest edges [ 21 , 26 , 28 , 43 ].…”