Eur. J. Entomol. 117: 289-294, 2020 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2020.033

Soil salinity determines the diversity of snail-killing flies (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) in brackish marshesOriginal article

Frank VAN DE MEUTTER1, Jonas MORTELMANS2, Ralf GYSELINGS1
1 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Herman Teirlinckgebouw, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000 Brussel, Belgium; e-mails: Frank.vandemeutter@inbo.be, ralf.gyselings@inbo.be
2 Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Wandelaarkaai 7, 8400 Oostende, Belgium; e-mail: jonasmortelmans@gmail.com

Brackish marshes resulting from embankments are a rare habitat in Europe and for which there is little knowledge of the entomofauna. There is an urgent need to document the insect diversity and its unique properties in the light of ongoing habitat losses. The current study focuses on snail-killing flies in the remaining Belgian brackish marshes, in particular the role of soil salinity in determining their diversity and how it compares with that in freshwater marshes. Snail-killing fly communities in brackish marshland were relatively species poor and clearly different from those in freshwater, yet species richness and abundance increased with decreasing soil salinity. We recorded no habitat-specific species, but Tetanocera arrogans was more abundant in brackish marshes. Malaise traps proved to be a successful and repeatable method of sampling sciomyzid communities, the species composition of which was strongly site-specific. We conclude that extant Belgian brackish marshes have poor to moderately rich snail-killing fly communities that lack unique species. Richness and abundance, however, increased as soil salinity decreased.

Keywords: Diptera, Sciomyzidae, snail-killing flies, insect diversity, soil salinity, brackish marshes, Atlantic brackish meadows, Belgium

Received: January 11, 2020; Revised: April 9, 2020; Accepted: April 9, 2020; Published online: June 16, 2020  Show citation

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VAN DE MEUTTER, F., MORTELMANS, J., & GYSELINGS, R. (2020). Soil salinity determines the diversity of snail-killing flies (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) in brackish marshes. EJE, 117, Article 289-294. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2020.033
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