Seasonal changes in mycophagous insect communities

Abstract

. The phenology of fungal fruiting has changed in the UK over the last 70 years, but whether the associated mycophagous insects are able to exploit ‘out of season’ fruit bodies is unknown. This study focused on whether fungal baits can be used as a proxy to examine changes in fungal fruiting on insect communities. Using Agaricus bisporus as a bait, mushrooms were placed into two separate woodlands monthly from November 2020 to July 2021. Megaselia ru fi pes (Phoridae) and Bradysia spp. (Sciaridae) were reared from both wild fungi and fungal baits at different times, making them appropriate species to consider for possible host tracking. Various factors affect an insect’s ability to track a fungal host, these include host preference, season, period of fungal fruiting and age of mushroom. Increased fruiting of macrofungi in the future may bene fi t generalist mycophagous insects, by providing enhanced temporal and spatial resource opportunities. Using fungal baits as a proxy for the effects of climate change on fungal fruiting should be bene fi cial in uncovering the host preferences of mycophagous insects and may potentially indicate whether mycophagous insects can track fungal hosts across seasons.