Soil-living parasitic Hymenoptera: comparison between a forest and an open landscape habitat

Community structures and local diversity patterns of parasitic Hymenoptera with soil and leaf litter hosts were studied in a German beech forest and a meadow. Hymenoptera appeared to be one of the most species-rich taxa associated with the soil. Eighty-eight species were found in the meadow (total density of 128 ind. m⁻² yr⁻¹) and 188 species (149 ind. m⁻² yr⁻¹) in the forest. The mean parasitism rates were above 60% for parasitoids of mycetophagous Diptera and between 7% and 26% for parasitoids of saprophagous Diptera. Species overlap between both habitats was higher than expected from a random sample model. Species common to both habitats were primarily parasitoids of predatory Coleoptera. High mean densities of these species support the hypothesis of a positive correlation between local abundance and range size.