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Dryad

Microhymenoptera in roadside verges and the potential of arthropod-friendly mowing for their preservation

Data files

Sep 18, 2023 version files 29.93 KB

Abstract

This dataset contains data from the paper: “Haas-Renninger, M., Weber, J., Felske, I., Kimmich, T., Csader, M., Betz, O., Krogmann, L., Steidle, J. L.M. 2023. Parasitoid Hymenoptera in roadside verges and the potential of insect-friendly mowing for their preservation. Journal of Applied Entomology.”

The study investigates which families of parasitoid Hymenoptera occur in roadside grassland and might suffer from mowing with a conventional mowing head ("MK1200" from MULAG), which parasitoid families benefit from insect-friendly mowing using an “insect-friendly” mowing head ("Eco 1200 plus" from MULAG), and which parasitoid families benefit from the use of a flushing bar attached to the mowing head.

We found specimens of 18 families from the six parasitoid superfamilies Chalcidoidea, Ceraphronoidea, Diaprioidea, Ichneumonoidea, Platygastroidea, and Proctotrupoidea. Mowing with a conventional mulching mower caused a significant loss of up to 64 % for parasitoid Hymenoptera. The Eco 1200 plus showed an insect-friendly effect only on the number of individuals of Chalcidoidea, saving 38 % of individuals compared to the conventional mower. The flushing bar showed a significant effect on total number of individuals with a reduction only on Chalcidoidea and a tendency for Ichneumonoidea with 30 % and 47 %, respectively.

This study shows that mowing with a conventional mulching mower has detrimental effects on parasitoid Hymenoptera and that this effect can be partly reversed through the insect-friendly mower and a flushing bar.