
Steffen RothUniversity of Bergen | UiB · University Museum of Bergen
Steffen Roth
PhD
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55
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Publications
Publications (55)
Zusammenfassung: Die während einer 2-wöchigen Exkursion in Argentinien gemachten ökologischen und biologischen Beobachtungen für die Bettwanzenarten (Cimicidae) Propicimex tucmatiani, Cyanolicimex patagonicus, Acanthocrios furnarii und Bertilia valdiviana werden vorgestellt. Dieser Artikel versteht sich als Ergänzung zu den in ROTH et al. 2023 gema...
Rapid genitalia evolution is believed to be mainly driven by sexual selection. Recently, non-copulatory genital functions have been suggested to exert stronger selection pressure on female genitalia than copulatory functions. In bedbugs (Cimicidae), the impact of the copulatory function can be isolated from the non-copulatory impact. Unlike in othe...
Species richness and abundance of hosts and parasites are often not perfectly correlated. This may be caused by higher parasite than host extinction rates or population declines, but lower parasite discovery effort has also been suggested.
The Mexican free‐tailed bat Tadarida brasiliensis is one of the most common and widespread vertebrates in the...
The bed bug family Cimicidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) constitutes a group of specialized haematophagous ectoparasitic insects with about 110 species worldwide and 13 species in the Neotropics. Here we provide biological and faunistic observations for 4 out of the 8 species recorded in Argentina. Propicimex tucmatiani (Wygodzinsky, 1951) was recorde...
Besides humans, the common bed bug Cimex lectularius uses bats as hosts, but no such records were available from the Southern Caucasus. Here, we record the greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ) and the lesser mouse-eared bat ( Myotis blythii ) as hosts of C. lectularius from two Georgian and one Armenian sites. A summary of all known...
Forest water bodies, e.g., pools, constitute ‘environmental islands’ within forests, with specific flora and fauna thus contributing considerably to the landscape biodiversity. The mite communities of Oribatida and Mesostigmata in two distinctive microhabitats, water-soaked Sphagnum mosses at the edge of a pool and other mosses growing on the mediu...
We studied ptyctimous moss mites, which are characteristic of forest habitats, in Norwegian broadleaf forests considered as biodiversity hotspot areas in Fennoscandia. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of different factors (regional locality, annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, forest type, forest wetness and microhabitat) on the pt...
Broadleaf forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and this biodiversity is in turn essential for their proper functioning. Mites (Acari) are a numerous and functionally essential component of these forests. We report the diversity of two important groups, Oribatida and Mesostigmata, in a broadleaf forest in Eastern Norway which is considered...
(1) We document the invertebrate fauna collected from 24 oak canopies in east and west Norway as a contribution to the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre’s ‘The Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative’. (2) A snap-shot inventory of the canopies was recorded by means of emitting a mist of natural pyrethrum into the canopies at night using a petrol-driv...
(1)We document the invertebrate fauna collected from 24 oak canopies in east and west Norway as a contribution to the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre’s ‘The Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative’. (2) A snap-shot inventory of the canopies was recorded by means of emitting a mist of natural pyrethrum into the canopies at night using a petrol-drive...
The Firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) is presented new to the Norwegian fauna. Several hundred individuals were observed in a residential area in southeast Norway, centred around two Tilia trees. P. apterus has had an explosive expansion in Northern Europe the recent years, and its range expansion and means of ex...
Broadleaf forests are rare in Norway and they are considered one the most biodiverse terrestrial habitats in Fennoscandia. These forests are poorly studied in terms of their acarofauna. Mites of two groups, Oribatida and Mesostigmata, were studied in a broadleaf forest in Western Norway. In total, 6,350 oribatid mites, representing 67 species (i.e....
All 100+ bedbug species (Cimicidae) are obligate blood-sucking parasites [1, 2]. In general, blood sucking (hematophagy) is thought to have evolved in generalist feeders adventitiously taking blood meals [3, 4], but those cimicid taxa currently considered ancestral are putative host specialists [1, 5]. Bats are believed to be the ancestral hosts of...
Cimex pipistrelli complex is recorded for the first time from Norway. Recent records of Cimex pipistrelli complex and of Cimex hirundinis (= Oeciacus hirundinis) Lamarck, 1816 are presented for Norway and Sweden. Species occurrence, species status and taxonomy of European Cimicidae are discussed with respect to Northern Europe.
We present 180 species of true bugs (Insecta: Heteroptera) from the biogeographic regions „Oberes Weserbergland“, „Westhessisches Berg- und Senkenland“ and „Osthessisches Bergland”.
All records have been obtained in August 2017 within the framework of the 43rd meeting of the “Working group of the Central European Heteropterists” held in Hofgeismar...
All 100+ bedbug species (Cimicidae) are obligate blood-sucking parasites and well-known for their habit of traumatic insemination but the evolutionary trajectory of these characters is unknown. Our new, fossil-dated, molecular phylogeny estimates that ancestral Cimicidae evolved ca. 115MYA as hematophagous specialists on an unidentified host, 50MY...
Little is known about the phylogeographic history of amphibian populations along the western Fennoscandinavian coast. In the present study, we focus on the common toad (Bufo bufo) and document the spatial distribution of mitochondrial DNA (cytb) haplotypes at 20 localities along its coastal Norwegian range. Two common haplotypes (out of eight haplo...
Wolbachia bacteria, vertically transmitted intracellular endosymbionts, are associated with two major host taxa in which they show strikingly different symbiotic modes. In some taxa of filarial nematodes, where Wolbachia are strictly obligately beneficial to the host, they show complete within- and among-species prevalence as well as co-phylogeny w...
The last decades have shown a surge in studies focusing on the interplay between fragmented habitats, genetic variation, and conservation. In the present study, we consider the case of a temperate pond-breeding anuran (the common toad Bufo bufo) inhabiting a naturally strongly fragmented habitat at the Northern fringe of the species’ range: islands...
The genera Cimex Linnaeus and Oeciacus Stål (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) are common haematophagous ectoparasites of bats or birds in the Holarctic region. Both their phylogenetic relationship and the systematics of the entire family previously were based on data from morphology and host relationships. Relationships among nine species of the genus Cimex...
The spectacular discovery of the new insect order Mantophasmatodea in 2002 was immediately followed by detailed studies on morphology and scattered information on different aspects of its behavior and general biology. A distinct feature of these predatory insects is the development of large arolia, which are typically held upright; hence, their com...
Knowledge about Heteroptera from Northern Norway (Finnmark), Sweden (Torne Lappmark), Finland (Lapponia kemensis, Lapponia inarenis) and the historical parts of the Russian Lapland provinces (Lapponia rossica, Petsamo, Murmansk) is summarized. In total, 16 species of Heteroptera are reported new to Finnmark county and 15 new to the Swedish province...
True bug records (Insecta: Heteroptera), collected during the 39th meeting of the “Working Group of Central European Heteropterists” in August 2013 in Admont and the National park Gesäuse, are listed. 26 colleagues documented 202 species. Biogeographically interesting are the records of two Austrian subendemic species, Camptozygum pumilio and Dimor...
The dynamics of predation on parasites within prey has received relatively little attention despite the profound effects this is likely to have on both prey and parasite numbers and hence on biological control programmes where parasites are employed. The nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is a commercially available biological agent against slu...
The present distribution of the invasive slug Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon was studied in Norway. This important pest species has spread to many parts of Europe during the last decades, inflicting damage to agriculture and domestic gardens. It was first recorded in Norway in 1988, and has since spread to many parts of the country and is now recorde...
A faunistic study of selected insect groups inhabiting freshwater and humid habitats in Finnmark, the northernmost part of mainland Norway was initiated in 2010. Fieldwork was conducted through three different 10–11 day excursions in the 2010-season and 107 localities were visited. Phase one of the project focused on the dipteran families Bolitophi...
Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon 1855 is one of the most important invasive species in Europe, affecting both biodiversity and agriculture. The species is spreading in many parts of Europe, inflicting severe damage to horticultural plants and cultivated crops partly due to a lack of satisfactory and effective management solutions. Molluscicides have tr...
Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon 1855 (synonym Arion lusitanicus Mabille 1868) lias been spreading through Norway during the last 20 years. We present phenological and reproductive data from iuestern Norzvegian populations. Mating experiments under semi-natural conditions revealed a prolonged duration of copulation compared with other studies. In partn...
We studied relative abundance, sex ratio, sexual maturity, body size and mite loads of the lizard Ameiva festiva in grassland, primary and secondary forest in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. A total of 51 individuals were captured using drift fences with pitfall and funnel traps. With equal sampling efforts across sites, 19 individuals were cau...
The insect order Mantophasmatodea was described in 2002. Prior to that time, several generations of entomologists had assumed that all major insect taxa were known; thus, its description was a sensation for zoologists. Since then, a surprising abundance and species diversity of this taxon have been found, particularly in the winter rainfall region...
Herpetological observations from Southern Horda-land and Northern Rogaland (Norway) with particular consideration of Bømlo and Stord The distribution and occurrence of amphibians and reptiles in the southern part of the province Hordaland and in the northern part of the province Rogaland in Norway is documented. The main focus was to obtain an over...
Neuropeptide ligands have to fit exactly into their respective receptors and thus the evolution of the coding regions of their genes is constrained and may be strongly conserved. As such, they may be suitable for the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships within higher taxa. CAPA peptides of major lineages of cockroaches (Blaberidae, Blattell...
The winter survival of three closely related univoltine heteropterans that overwinter as adults, Nabis rugosus, N. ericetorum and N. pseudoferus was investigated. After 150 days of low temperature treatment (3-5°C, 16L: 8D, r.h. 70-80%) more males than females died. The mortality rate ranged from 88.8 to 93.8% in males and from 54.2 to 60.7% in fem...
Bayesian analysis of CAPA peptides sequences. Phylogenetic relationships of cockroaches based on CAPA peptides sequences represented by a Bayesian majority rules consensus tree. Numbers on the nodes indicate posterior probability values (≥ 0.49) (proportion of the 18205 sampled trees that contain the node).
Bayesian analysis of CAPA peptides, AKH-1 and sulfakinin sequences. Phylogenetic relationships of cockroaches based on CAPA peptides, AKH-1, and sulfakinin sequences represented by a Bayesian majority rules consensus tree. Numbers on the nodes indicate posterior probability values (≥ 0.49) (proportion of the 20206 sampled trees that contain the nod...
Additional information about studied species and accession numbers of peptides. Information about the species used in this study, including collecting sites/source, accession numbers of CAPA-peptides, AKH-1, sulfakinin-1 to UniProt. The sequence of sulfakinin-2 (Uni-Prot P67802) was identical in all species, except Loboptera decipiens, Symploce pal...
In many insects, mate finding is mediated by volatile sex pheromones, but evidence in nabids is still fragmentary. The role of odour-mediated sexual attraction in two nabid species, Nabis pseudoferus and N. rugosus, was studied in a Y-tube olfactometer. Females of the two species were significantly attracted by odours of conspecifics males, and mal...
Population divergence can be detected by the divergence of functional and neutral characters. Under some circumstances, it is desirable to have available a character that is discretely expressed in either of the diverging genomes, rather than the evaluation of qualitative variation of continuous characters. In the present study, we investigated mas...
> Abstract Mass spectrometric methods were used for the fi rst time to reveal the sequences of peptide orthologs from a large number of insects species, focussing on cockroaches. Sequence data of CAPA peptides (three periviscerokinins, pyrokinin) were obtained from single specimens, which led to the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees. The results...
Females of Elasmucha grisea are known to guard their eggs and nymphs. We investigated this
behaviour in several populations in Germany. While in Scandinavia a high proportion of females have
been observed to guard their eggs jointly, in German populations less than 5 % (n=114) of females do
so. For the first time, interactions between joint guardin...
Tachykinins and tachykinin-related peptides (TKRPs) play major roles in signaling in the nervous system and intestine of both invertebrates and vertebrates. Here we have identified cDNAs encoding precursors of multiple TKRPs from the cockroaches Leucophaea maderae and Periplaneta americana. All nine LemTKRPs that had been chemically isolated in ear...
We analysed peptide hormones of South African species of the recently described insect order Mantophasmatodea. Mass spectrometric techniques made it possible to analyse minute amounts of material stored in different neurohemal organs of single specimens. The methodological approach underlying this application is described and resulted in the first...
FMRFamides belong to the most extensively studied neuropeptides in invertebrates and exhibit diverse physiological effects on different target organs, such as muscles, intestine and the nervous system. This study on the American cockroach confirms for the first time that extended FMRFamides occur in non-dipteran insects. By means of tandem mass spe...
We investigated sperm storage by females of a predatory bug, Nabis rugosus, before and after hibernation and with regard to nutritional status. In the field, females had more sperm available before than after hibernation. Food-deprived females maintained fewer sperm than fed females before but not after hibernation. However, after hibernation food-...
Six species of Nabidae (Heteroptera) were collected by standardized sweep net sampling in alfalfa fields in Thuringia, Germany, from 1993 to 1995: Nabis pseudoferus, N. ferus, N. brevis, N. major, Nabicula flavomarginata and Aptus mirmicoides. Colonization of a newly cultivated field was studied over a 3-year period. The density of all the studied...
7 spp. were recorded from southern Turkmenistan of which Gomphus schneideri is new to the fauna of Turkmenistan.
The community structure of Dublin Bay, Ireland was analysed using trophic guilds of the benthic macrofauna. This approach afforded stronger demarcation than a previous multivariate analysis on a taxonomic basis of the pattern of communities, in which tidal height and sediment type appeared to be the two most important abiotic factors for the distri...
The published information on the reproductive biology of the Nabidae (mainly Nabinae) is re-viewed, and previously unpublished data from diploma theses and observations of the authors are added. For 23 nabid species data on ecology, sexual behaviour and evolution of the reproductive bio-logy are summarized, including aspects of sexual communication...