Diurnal flight activity of Ichneumonidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in Cabañeros National Park (Spain)

Abstract

We examined the influence of weather factors, including temperature, humidity and sunlight, on the diurnal flight activity of Ichneumonidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) in an oak wood in Cabañeros National Park (Spain) in June, when the annual flight activity reaches its maximum. Ichneumonidae flight activity peaked at temperatures of around 25.6–27°C, which is reached in late morning to midday and in the evening (20.00–21.00 h). The evening peak in activity was greater. Males were more active in the morning, whereas females were more active in the afternoon. Relative humidity is closely related to air temperature but showed little correspondence with flight activity. Illuminance did not explain diurnal flight activity, other than dictating diurnal or nocturnal habits of Ichneumonidae.

Keywords:

• Ichneumonidae
• diurnal flight activity
• optimum temperature
• relative humidity
• illuminance
• Cabañeros National Park
• Spain

Acknowledgements

We are sincerely grateful to the staff of Cabañeros National Park for the provision of facilities and permission to collect material in this protected area. We are also grateful to Dr Gerardo Sánchez (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, México) for his useful comments on the statistical analyses used in the manuscript, as well as to Dr Michael Wilson (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom) for his valuable comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by Project 040/2002 from the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente of the Spanish Government.