Gergely Várkonyi

Finnish Environment Institute | ymparisto · Biodiversity Centre

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this paper, we 1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), 2) publish this library, and 3) deliver a new identifica...

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this paper, we 1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), 2) publish this library, and 3) deliver a new identifica...

A taxonomic account and an annotated checklist of the Finnish Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are given, comprising 85 named species in 19 genera. Among them 2 genera, Dicopus Enock, 1909 and Stethynium Enock, 1909, 1 subgenus, Anagrus (Paranagrus Perkins, 1905), and the following 25 species represent new records for Finland: Anagrus (Anagrus...

A taxonomic account and an annotated checklist of the Finnish Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are given, comprising 85 named species in 19 genera. Among them 2 genera, Dicopus Enock, 1909 and Stethynium Enock, 1909, 1 subgenus, Anagrus (Paranagrus Perkins, 1905), and the following 25 species represent new records for Finland: Anagrus (Anagrus...

It has been hypothesised that the 2‐year oscillations in abundance of Xestia moths are mediated by interactions with 1‐year Ophion parasitoid wasps. We tested this hypothesis by modelling a 35‐year time series of Xestia and Ophion from Northern Finland. Additionally, we used DNA barcoding to ascertain the species diversity of Ophion and targeted am...

The Tersilochinae fauna of Finland is critically revised (except subgenera Tersilochus Holmgren and Euporizon Horstmann). Tersilochinae in two principal Finnish ichneumonid collections, the Finnish Natural History Museum LUOMUS (University of Helsinki) and the private collection of R. Jussila (Turku), have been examined. Thirteen genera and 61 spec...

Background After their death, Scots pine trees can remain standing for decades and sometimes up to 200 years, forming long-lasting and ecologically important structures in boreal forest landscapes. Standing dead pines decay very slowly and with time develop into ‘kelo’ trees, which are characterized by hard wood with silvery-colored appearance. The...

Fig. S1 Effective dispersal distance and probability of deposition to at least distance x for clonal propagules, gametes and ascospores in the epiphytic lichen‐forming ascomycete Lobaria pulmonaria. The figure represents analysis I, clones dropped. Fig. S2 Effective dispersal distance and probability of deposition to at least distance x for clonal...

The Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from ten islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and Greenland were studied based on 2,183 specimens deposited in collections. We report a total of 33 species in six genera, more than doubling the totals previously known. Most of the species (75.7%) have a distribution restricted to the Nearctic...

R code used to generate the map

Details of all studied specimens of Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland

Accurate estimates of gamete and offspring dispersal range are required for the understanding and prediction of spatial population dynamics and species persistence. Little is known about gamete dispersal in fungi, especially in lichen‐forming ascomycetes. Here, we estimate the dispersal functions of clonal propagules, gametes and ascospores of the...

Understanding the relative importance of different ecological processes on the metapopulation dynamics of species is the basis for accurately forecasting metapopulation size in fragmented landscapes. Successful local colonization depends on both species dispersal range and how local habitat conditions affect establishment success. Moreover, there i...

Understanding the relative importance of different ecological processes on the metapopulation dynamics of species is the basis for accurately forecasting metapopulation size in fragmented landscapes. Successful local colonization depends on both species dispersal range and how local habitat conditions affect establishment success. Moreover, there i...

Therion brevicorne (Gravenhorst, 1829) and Trichomma fulvidens Wesmael, 1949 (Ichneumonidae, Anomaloninae) are reported from Finland for the first time. Both species are likely to have recently spread to the southern part of the country. Diagnostic characters for species identification are given and host associations are discussed.

DNA sequences offer powerful tools for describing the members and interactions of natural communities. In this study, we establish the to-date most comprehensive library of DNA barcodes for a terrestrial site, including all known macroscopic animals and vascular plants of an intensively studied area of the High Arctic, the Zackenberg Valley in Nort...

Studies on the determinants of plant-herbivore and herbivore-parasitoid associations provide important insights into the origin and maintenance of global and local species richness. If parasitoids are specialists on herbivore niches rather than on herbivore taxa, then alternating escape of herbivores into novel niches and delayed resource tracking...

How networks of ecological interactions are structured has a major impact on their functioning. However, accurately resolving both the nodes of the webs and the links between them is fraught with difficulties. We ask whether the new resolution conferred by molecular information changes perceptions of network structure. To probe a network of antagon...

That larger areas will typically host more diverse ecological assemblages than small ones has been regarded as one of the few fundamental ‘laws’ in ecology. Yet, area may affect not only species diversity, but also the trophic structure of the local ecological assemblage. In this context, recent theory on trophic island biogeography offers two clea...

Indirect interactions as mediated by higher and lower trophic levels have been advanced as key forces structuring herbivorous arthropod communities around the globe. Here, we present a first quantification of the interaction structure of a herbivore-centered food web from the High Arctic. Targeting the Lepidoptera of Northeast Greenland, we introdu...

Despite increasing worldwide interest in host–parasitoid food webs, the parasitoid communities of the high Arctic remain poorly explored. To allow analyses of global patterns, and to detect the effects of ongoing climate change, such data are urgently needed. In this paper, we describe a systematic effort to characterise the high-Arctic Hymenoptera...

Microgastrine wasps are among the most species‐rich and numerous parasitoids of caterpillars (Lepidoptera). They are often host‐specific and thus are extensively used in biological control efforts and figure prominently in trophic webs. However, their extraordinary diversity coupled with the occurrence of many cryptic species produces a significant...

Microgastrine wasps are among the most species-rich and numerous parasitoids of caterpillars (Lepidoptera). They are often host-specific and thus are extensively used in biological control efforts and figure prominently in trophic webs. However, their extraordinary diversity coupled with the occurrence of many cryptic species produces a significant...

The golden egg bug (Phyllomorpha laciniata (Villers)) is a phytophagous insect with an unusual reproductive system. Females use the bodies of conspecifics, bothmales and females, as oviposition substrates. In addition, a varying fraction of the eggs is laid on the food plant. Egg carrying on conspecifics increases offspring survival. Predators and,...

Is the current aspen or goat willow populations in boreal old-growth forest a legacy of the historical fires? A middle-boreal, old-growth forest landscape with a large proportion of wetlands in eastern Finland. Forest fire history of a 2100-ha area was reconstructed using fire scars, forest age estimates and the presence or absence of charred stump...

The bark lice Psocus flavonimbatus Rostock, 1879 and Ptycta chubsugulensis Günther, 1982 are assigned to the genus Kimunpsocus Yoshizawa, 2009. The male terminalia of K. flavonimbatus are described for the first time and compared to the corresponding structures of the other known species of the genus. Previously only known from the type locality in...

Invasive generalist ectoparasites provide a tool to study factors affecting expansion rates. An increase in the number of host species may facilitate geographic range expansion by increasing the number of suitable habitats and by affecting local extinction and colonization rates. A geographic perspective on parasite host specificity and its implica...

A single female of Prosimulium ursinum (Edwards, 1935) (Diptera: Simuliidae) was recorded in Zackenberg Valley, Northeast Greenland, in a Malaise trap catch. In Greenland, this species has hitherto only been recorded from eastern Greenland, about 580 km south of the present finding. Identification of the species and relationships between closely re...

Metal distributions in lakes surrounding Kostomuksha iron mine and ore dressing mill were explored to study the effects of the mill on the state of the lakes. Both surface water and 10 cm sediment core samples were taken from six lakes in the Russian side and another two in the Finnish side at a maximum distance of 70 kilometres from the plant. Con...

The beetle genus Agathidium is the largest insect group documented that principally feeds on slime moulds. Agathidium pulchellum, one of the rarest Agathidium species in Europe, is listed in the EU’s Habitats Directive. We studied the habitat associations of A. pulchellum in 44 sites located in old-growth and managed forests in eastern Finland. Aga...

New and poorly known Finnish ichneumonid (Hymenoptera) species I Abstract. Lissonota inareolata Pfeffer, Hodostates brevis (Thomson), Neostroblia longigena (Thomson), Campodorus celator (Holmgren), Euryproctus mundus (Gravenhorst), Diadegma velox (Holmgren), Hyposoter clausus (Brischke), Campocraspedon annulitarsis (Hedwig), Acrolyta flagellator S...

Intensive forest management has caused loss and fragmentation of old-growth forests and reduced the amount of dead wood throughout northwest Europe. Changes in habitat availability are reflected in occurrence patterns of habitat-specialist species only after a certain time lag. Here we analyse the responses of wood-decomposing fungi and saproxylic...

We aim to assess habitat and host-tree preferences of psocids (Insecta: Psocoptera) sampled in old-growth-forest biodiversity studies conducted during 1997–2003 in central and southern Finland. Thirty-one out of the recognized sixty-nine Finnish species were found in the samples, four of which (Elipsocus abdominalis, Reuterella helvimacula, Stenops...

The bethylid genus Foenobethylus Kieffer, 1913, unstudied for almost a century, is redescribed and assigned to the sub- family Pristocerinae based on a preliminary phylogenetic assessment. Four new species: F. bidentatus n. sp. (Brunei), F. elongatus n. sp. (Malaysia), F. emiliacasellae n. sp. (Thailand), and F. thomascokeri n. sp. (Malaysia) are d...

We studied movements of the noctuid moths Xestia speciosa and X. fennica in a fragmented forest landscape including old-growth spruce forest corridors in eastern Finland. We individually marked and released 1,796 adults of the habitat generalist X. speciosa and 683 individuals of X. fennica, which prefers old-growth spruce forests. Moths were recap...