Ecology of the Cerambycidae in a Southwestern Michigan Woodland.

Abstract

The populations of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) in an 80-ha woodland were studied from 1976 through 1980. The study area, located near Tamarack Lake in St. Joseph County, Michigan, was selected as typical of woodland ecosystems in southwestern Michigan. The principal objectives of the study were to associate the cerambycid populations with the host plants and various ecosystems occurring in the study area, to compare the cerambycid communities found in different stands, and to determine the effects of typical patterns of prior treatment of these st and s on their quality as cerambycid habitat. The study area is situated at the edge of a recessional moraine, with uplands formed by kames and outwash deposits. The soil on these uplands is a well-drained loamy s and . About 30 ha of the study area are nearly level and have poorly drained organic or s and y soils. The uplands support a dry woods dominated by Quercus velutina Lam., Q rubra L., and Carya glabra (Mill.) Sweet. The poorly drained wet woods are dominated by Acer rubrum L., Betula alleghaniensis Britton, Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh., and Quercus bicolor Willd. Plantings of Pinus spp. dominate 8 ha of the uplands. One hundred twenty species of woody plants have been collected and identified from the study area. The known cerambycid community in the study area is comprised of 118 species. New host plant associations were recognized for many of these species, as well as new flower records for anthophilous adults. Two species, Clytoleptus albofasciatus (Castelnau and Gory) and Typocerus deceptus Knull, were reported from Michigan for the first time. The correct identity of the twig pruner previously considered to be Elaphidionoides villosus (Fabricius) was established as E. parallelus (Newman). Dolichomitus irritator (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) was found to be a parasite, previously unreported, of E. parallelus. Host plant preferences by adult cerambycids made the mature dry woods the superior cerambycid habitat both in terms of population density and diversity. Data from relative sampling in three dry woods st and s were used to show that selective logging had a deleterious effect on the capacity of a stand to support a population of Megacyllene caryae (Gahan), and presumably other borers as well.