Occurrence of flat bugs (Heteroptera: Aradidae) in burned and unburned forests

Hjalten, J., Atlegrim, O., Sandstrom, F., Pettersson, R. & Rexstad, E. A. 2006: Occurrenceofflatbugs(Heteroptera:Aradidae) in burned and unburned forests. — Entomol. Fennica 17: 130–135. Thegoal ofthis study was to determinetheeffect offireon flat bug diversity and abundanceinconiferousandmixedforestsininteriorAlaska.Eightyindividuals, ofwhich78intheburnedareasandtwointhecontrolareas, ofsixaradidspecies were collected: Aradus abbas (Bergroth), A. funestus (Bergroth), A. lugubris (Fallen), A. signaticornis (Sahlberg), A. tuberculifer (Kirby) and Aneurus simplex(Uhler).Generally,allflatbugspeciesweremoreabundantintheburnedareasthanincontrolareaswithstatisticallysignificantdifferencesforfourofthesix species and for pooled nymphs. Habitat preferences and potential mechanisms connecting mycophagy and pyrophagy are discussed.