Arthropod communities were sampled during the summer of 2006
and will be sampled during 2007 in an agricultural landscape of northwestern Ohio to determine
patterns of arthropod biodiversity in agroecosystems as well as in noncrop
habitats. The dominant agroecosystems in
this region are corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa agroecosystems. Noncrop habitats include forests, meadows,
filter strips, fencerows, and hedgerows in close proximity to the
agroecosystems. During 2006, arthropods
were collected from edges of soybean agroecosystems using a 38 cm sweep net
from mid-July through mid-September.
These soybean agroecosystems differed in terms of the noncrop habitats
present along one edge; approximately half of the agroecosystems had a forest
habitat on one edge, and half had a herbaceous habitat on one edge. Although no significant differences were
observed between the two types of soybean-noncrop habitat combinations in the
2006 season, type of edge did tend to cause numerical increases of certain phytophagous
arthropod species, such as the bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), as well as
predators such as the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), the insidious flower
bug, Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera:
Anthocoridae), and spiders (Araneae). Parasitoids
did not appear to follow any trends in abundance related to the type of edge
habitat present. Families of parasitic
Hymenoptera collected included Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, Eulophidae, Encyrtidae,
and Pteromalidae. Tachinidae (Diptera)
were also collected during 2006.
Arthropods will be sampled in 2007 from edges of corn, soybean, wheat,
and alfalfa agroecosystems, as well as in the noncrop habitats using sweep
nets, pan traps, insect vacuums, black light traps, and Malaise traps. In addition, selected larval Lepidoptera will
be collected from agroecosystems and reared in the laboratory to determine the
parasitoid assemblages present.