Firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) Flight Periods, Sex Ratios, and Habitat Frequencies in a United States Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Tidal Marsh, Low Forest, and their Ecotone
Barrows EM, Arsenault SB, Grenier NP. 2008. Firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) Flight Periods, Sex Ratios, and Habitat Frequencies in a United States Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Tidal Marsh, Low Forest, and their Ecotone. Banisteria. 31:47-52
As part of a long-term arthropod study, we operated six Malaise traps in Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve (DMWP), Virginia from April 1998 through December 1999 and obtained 727 adult lampyrid beetles in six genera.They were present in samples from early April through early October. The abundances of five of the genera varied among a low forest, freshwater tidal marsh, and the forest-marsh ecotone during at least 1 yr of the study. In genera with over 10 trapped specimens, four showed a male sex bias in combined samples from both years. Malaise traps can be used efficiently to survey and monitor certain lampyrid species in DMWP and similar places. To understand the lampyrid biodiversity and phenology of the Preserve more fully, it would be worthwhile to survey the entire Preserve for at least 10 yr.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Barrows, Edward; Arsenault, Shawna; Grenier, Nickolas
- Units
- GWMP
- Keywords
- Beetles, biodiversity, biodiversity article, Deciduous forest, fireflies, lampyridae, Phenology, scientific research, sex ratios, tidal freshwater marsh
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Terrestrial Invertebrates