Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „Al. I. Cuza” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LIV, 2008

THE ATTACK OF LEAF-MINING INSECTS ON THE PLANTS ENCOUNTERED IN THE BĂLTENI FOREST AND BOTANICAL

RESERVE (VASLUI COUNTY)

Alina-Maria STOLNICU “Al. I. Cuza” University Iaşi, Faculty of Biology, Bd. Carol I 20A, 700505 Iaşi, Romania,

alina_stolnicu@yahoo.com Abstract. This paper presents the results of studies on leaf-mining insects that attack the plants encountered in the Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni (Vaslui County) conducted between 2005 and 2007. 39 leaf-mining insect species were identified during these studies, species belonging to 18 genera of 11 families, from 4 orders: Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. The “mines” caused by the larvae of these insects were identified on 25 species of hosting plants, mostly wooden plants. The Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera leaf-mining larvae grow mostly on wooden plants, while those belonging to the Diptera order prefer herbaceous plants. Keywords: leaf-mining insects, Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni, Romania, fauna. Rezumat. Atacul insectelor miniere asupra plantelor din Rezervaţia Forestieră şi Botanică Bălteni (Vaslui). Lucrarea cuprinde rezultatele cercetărilor asupra insectelor miniere care atacă plantele din Rezervaţia Forestieră şi Botanică Bălteni (Vaslui) efectuate în perioada 2005 - 2007. S-au identificat 39 de specii de insecte miniere care aparţin la 18 genuri din 11 familii, grupate în 4 ordine: Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera şi Hymenoptera. Minele provocate de larvele insectelor miniere au fost identificate pe 25 de specii de plante-gazdă, majoritatea fiind de esenţă lemnoasă. Larvele coleopterelor, lepidopterelor şi himenopterelor miniere se dezvoltă mai mult pe plantele lemnoase, în schimb dipterele preferă plantele ierboase. Cuvinte cheie: insecte miniere, Rezervaţia Forestieră şi Botanică Bălteni, România, fauna.

Introduction The Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni is situated at approximately 10 km

from the city of Vaslui, and 1.5 km SE from the Bălteni train station. The protected natural environment area is now of 18.8 ha. Studies regarding the presence of rare species of relict herbaceous and arboreus plants in this area have been conducted ever since the end of the XIXth century, by C. Dobrescu in 1892, and by I.C. Constantineanu in 1903 (Dobrescu, 1968).

The woods vegetation of this forest reserve plays an important part in all scientific studies, due to the mix of oak-tree species specific to riverbank areas and maple-tree species: Quercus robur L., Q. petraea Liebl., Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl., F. excelsior L., Tilia tomentosa Mnch., Carpinus betulus L., Acer campestre L., Ulmus minor Mill. etc. The arborical layer is composed of Acer tataricum L., Viburnum lantana L., Cornus mas L., Corylus avellana L., Crataegus monogyna Jacq. etc. The herbaceous layer is represented by the species: Brachypodium sylvaticum Beauv., Viola jordanii Hanry, Euonymus nana Bieb., Fritillaria meleagris L., Leucojum aestivum L., Tulipa biebersteiniana Schult. & Schult. fil. etc. (Dobrescu, 1968).

The Bălteni Reserve is placed in the floodable basin of Bârlad River, and it has numerous micro-depressions, which leads to its being sometimes temporarily flooded, thus creating high-humidity climatic conditions, that explain the existence of numerous hygrophyte and hydrophyte elements.

Alina-Maria Stolnicu

The reserve also hosts a very interesting fauna that was more scarcely studied. However, research studies on ichneumonids were conducted in this area by M. I. Constantineanu and L. Gr. Tâţan (Constantineanu & Ţâţan, 1973).

Material and Methods The collection of sampling vegetal material was conducted between 2005-2007

in the Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni (Vaslui County). The research on the association between the leaf-mining species and spontaneous flora went through the following stages: identifying host-plant species, collecting the biological study material (“mined” leaves), laboratory supervised growth to obtain adult specimens, and finally the determination of leaf-mining species, according to the characteristics of the “mines”, as well as of the morphology of adult insects.

Results and Discussion We collected leaves presenting “mines” of leaf-mining larvae from all the 4

orders that have leaf-mining representatives, which are Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. We identified a total of 39 species of leaf-mining insects, belonging to 18 genera and 11 families (Table 1).

Table 1. Leaf-mining insects identified in the Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni (Vaslui). Crt. No. Family Leaf-mining species Hosting plant

species Nr. ind.

Ordinul Coleoptera

1. Buprestidae Trachys minutus (Linnaeus, 1758) Ulmus minor 20 Tilia cordata 1

Ordinul Lepidoptera

2. Choreutidae Millieria dolosalis (Heydenreich, 1851) Aristolochia clematitis 7

3.

Coleophoridae

Coleophora ahenella Heinemann & Wocke, 1877 Cornus mas 3

4. Coleophora conspicuella Zeller, 1849 Centaurea brachycephallum 10

5. Coleophora coracipennella (Hübner, 1796) Malus sylvestris 1 6. Coleophora lineolea (Haworth, 1828) Lamium album 5 7. Coleophora saxicolella (Duponchel, 1843) Chenopodium album 9 8. Gelechiidae Chrysoesthia sexgutella Thunberg, 1794 Chenopodium album 2 9.

Gracillariidae

Caloptilia syringella (Fabricius, 1794) Fraxinus excelsior 4 10. Phyllonorycter corylifoliella (Hübner, 1796) Malus sylvestris 1 11. Phyllonorycter lautella (Zeller , 1846) Quercus robur 10 12. Phyllonorycter messaniella (Zeller, 1846) Carpinus betulus 5 13. Phyllonorycter platanoidella (Joannis, 1920) Acer platanoides 6 14. Phyllonorycter roboris (Zeller, 1839) Quercus robur 12 15. Phyllonorycter schreberella (Fabricius, 1871) Ulmus minor 14

16. Heliozelidae Antispila treitschkiella (Fischer von Rösslerstamm, 1843) Cornus mas 63

17. Lyonetiidae Lyonetia prunifoliella (Hübner, 1796) Prunus spinosa 3 18.

Nepticulidae

Stigmella aceris (Frey, 1857) Acer campestre 7 19. Stigmella aurella Fabricius, 1775 Rubus caesius 5 20. Stigmella carpinella (Heinemann, 1862) Carpinus betulus 12 21. Stigmela marginicolella (Stainton, 1853) Ulmus minor 21 22. Stigmella microtheriella (Stainton, 1854) Carpinus betulus 3 23. Stigmella plagicolella (Stainton, 1854) Prunus spinosa 18 24. Stigmella prunetorum (Stainton, 1855) Prunus spinosa 17 25. Stigmella ruficapitella (Haworth, 1828) Quercus robur 26 26.

Tischeriidae

Coptotriche angusticolella (Duponchel, 1843) Rosa canina 9 27. Coptotriche gaunacella (Duponchel, 1843) Prunus spinosa 9 28. Coptotriche marginea (Haworth, 1828) Rubus caesius 10 29. Tischeria decidua Wocke, 1876 Quercus robur 6

Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „Al. I. Cuza” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LIV, 2008

30. Tischeria eckebladella (Bjerkander, 1795) Quercus petraea 10 Quercus robur 90

Ordinul Diptera

31.

Agromyzidae

Agromyza abiens Zetterstedt, 1848 Symphytum officinalis 11

32. Aulagromyza heringii (Hendel, 1920) Fraxinus angustifolia 8

Fraxinus excelsior 16 33. Liriomyza congesta (Becker, 1903) Onobrychis viciifolia 1 34. Cerodontha iraeos (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1851) Iris pseudacorus 24 35. Phytomyza lappae Goureau, 1851 Arctium lapa 4

36. Phytomyza spondylii Robineau-Desvoidy, 1851 Heracleum sphondyllium 7

Ordinul Hymenoptera

37. Tenthredinidae

Metallus lanceolatus (CG Thomson, 1870) Geum rivale 6 Geum urbanum 9

38. Metallus pumillus (Klug, 1814) Rubus caesius 8 39. Profenusa pygmaea (Klug, 1816) Quercus robur 5 Total 11 39 25 518

According to the data resulted from our research, lepidopterons prevail in this

area, with 8 families, that is 72.72% of the total, followed by to be left two orders by one families, share equal proportions of 9.09% each. This is explicable due to the fact that the collected biological material was mostly of wooden essence, and lepidopterons have an affinity towards these wooden plants. If we consider the number leaf-mining genera, the order Lepidoptera are majority with a number of 10 genera that is 55.55%, followed by order Diptera with number of 5 genera that represent 27.77%. The percentage proportion is alike with the upper one and if we consider the numbers of the mining species, the order Lepidoptera are in proportion of 74.35%, followed by dipterans with 15.38%, then hymenopterans with 7.69% and coleopterans with one species, that is 2.56% (Table 2).

Table 2. The percentual proportion of the leaf-mining insect groups identified in the Bălteni Reserve between 2005 and 2007.

Order Families Genera Species No. % No. % No. %

Coleoptera 1 9.09 1 5.55 1 2.56 Lepidoptera 8 72.72 10 55.55 29 74.35 Diptera 1 9.09 5 27.77 6 15.38 Hymenoptera 1 9.09 2 11.11 3 7.69 Total 11 100 18 100 39 100

These 39 species of leaf-mining insects are further categorized in 11 families,

one of the most numerous is Gracillariidae family, with 8 species with 22% of the total, followed by Tischeriidae and Coleophoridae families, with 7 species each, with a proportion by 14% within the leaf-mining insects family, then the remaining families are represents by only one species, with 14% (Fig. 1).

The 39 species of leaf-mining insects identified in the Bălteni Reserve attack a series of 25 species of plants from different families: Aceraceae, Apiaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cornaceae, Corylaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Iridaceae, Lamiaceae, Oleaceae, Rosaceae, Tiliaceae, Ulmaceae.

Of these 25 hosting plant species, 14 are wooden (trees and bushes), representing a total of 56%, while the other 11 species, that is 44%, are herbaceous.

Generally, leaf-mining insects prefer certain species of plants, and not all plants are equally preferred. Throughout the evolution of these species there were established

Alina-Maria Stolnicu

some determined trophic relations between a series of species, genera or families of plants, and certain mining insect larvae.

Alte familii

14%Tischeriidae

14%

Nepticulidae22%

Agromyzidae17%

Coleophoridae14%

Gracillariidae19%

Figure 1. The proportions to which the different families of leaf-mining insects species

in the Bălteni Reserve.

As far as it regards the preference that the leaf-mining insects larvae manifest towards wooden plants, we observed that the Quercus genus is attacked by a high percentual of leaf-mining species, that is 23%, standing for actually 7 species of leaf-mining insects which were identified on this species; it is followed by the Prunus genus, attacked by 4 leaf-mining species, that is 13% of the total; then there are the genera Carpinus, Fraxinus, Rubus, and Ulmus, each one attacked by 3 species of leaf-mining insects, that is 10% of the total; the genera Acer, Cornus and Malus are attacked by 2 species each, that is 6% of the total, and the genera Rosa and Tilia are attacked by one species each, that is 3% (Fig. 2).

Acer 6%

Carpinus 10%

Prunus 13%

Quercus 23%

Rosa 3%

Cornus 6%

Tilia 3%

Malus 6%

Fraxinus 10%

Rubus10%

Ulmus 10%

Figure 2. Percentual representations of the wooden plants attacked by leaf-mining insects in the

Bălteni Reserve.

Onobrychis 8%

Symphytum 8%

Centaurea 8%

Chenopodium 18%

Lamium 8%

Aristolochia 8%Geum

18%Iris 8%

Heracleum 8%

Arctium 8%

Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „Al. I. Cuza” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LIV, 2008

Figure 3. Percentual representation of the herbaceous plants attacked by leaf-mining insects in the Bălteni Reserve.

Generally, herbaceous plants are preferred by leaf-mining insects from the Diptera order, the family of Agromyzidae. Thus, the genera Chenopodium and Geum are attacked by 2 species each, that is 18% of the total, while the other genera, Arctium, Aristolochia, Centaurea, Heracleum, Iris, Lamium, Onobrychys and Symphytum, are mined by one species each, that is 8% (Fig. 3).

Conclusions The present paper points out the results of research conducted on leaf-mining

insect species that attack various plant species from the Forest and Botanical Reserve of Bălteni – Vaslui.

The study was made during a period 2005 - 2007, in which we have identified 39 species of leaf-mining insects that attack 25 species of hosting plants.

The species we identified belong to 11 families from the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera.

It resulted from our research that wooden plants species are preferred by representatives of the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, while Diptera mostly prefer herbaceous plants.

Until now there have been no other studies on the leaf-mining insects in this area; this is why the data we have gathered here are important for the complex knowledge of this protected area. References Constantineanu, M. I., Ţâţan, Gr. L., 1973. Ichneumonidae (Hym., Ichneumonidae) din rezervaţiile naturale

„Bălteni” şi „Hârboanca” (jud. Vaslui). Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, s. Biologie, XIX(1): 221-226.

Dobrescu, C., 1968. Contribuţiuni floristice şi geobotanice referitoare la Pădurea Bălteni (Vaslui). Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii “Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, s. Biologie, XIV(1): 147-158.

Hering, E., M., 1957. Bestimmungstabellen der Blattminen von Europa einschlieβlich des Mittelmeerbeckens und Kanarischen Inseln, vol. I-III.. Dr. W. Junk S’Gravenhage.

Rakosy, L., Goia, M., Kovacs, Z., 2003. Catalogul Lepidopterelor României. Societatea Lepidopterologică Română, Cluj-Napoca.