Alexandru-Mihai Pintilioaie

The discovery of Leptophyes punctatissima in an urban park in Bucharest is consistent with the species’ known ecological plasticity, the finding suggesting that the bush-cricket may be expanding its range in the region.

Background and aims – The relationships between insect species and plant functional traits are complex but vital in their ecosystem structure and functioning. Our study examined functional traits of Crambe tataria to assess their influence on insect abundance and community composition. Material and methods – The study was carried out in April–May 2024 and 2025 at four locations in Iași and Vaslui counties, Romania. We investigated the presence of insects on C. tataria inflorescences and their relationship to plant functional traits. To understand the relationships between plant functional traits (plant height and inflorescence circumference) and insect abundance, we applied a Kendall’s rank correlation test. The vegetation was classified using agglomerative hierarchical clustering, while insect community clustering was based on Euclidean distances and complete linkage. Key results – A total of 36 insect taxa were identified on C. tataria , including 30 taxa identified to species level and six identified only to the genus level. The predominant trophic group was represented by phytophagous insects. Rare or conservation-relevant species, such as Clanoptilus affinis and Lixus canescens , were also recorded. A positive correlation was found between plant height and the number of Cercopis sanguinolenta . The number of C. sanguinolenta , Eurydema ornata , and Bibio hortulanus significantly increased with inflorescence circumference. Cluster analyses (108 plots) revealed three plant associations and three distinct insect communities, mainly phytophagous or pollen-feeding. Alpha-diversity indices varied between locations: Horlești presented the highest richness, Miroslava and Vulturi presented moderate diversity, while Glodeni had lower diversity. The PERMANOVA test showed that plant height and inflorescence circumference in C. tataria significantly influenced the composition of the insect community, explaining 34.5% of the observed variation. Conclusion – Plant height and inflorescence circumference of C. tataria were significantly correlated with the abundance of some phytophagous insect species, particularly Cercopis sanguinolenta , Eurydema ornata , and Bibio hortulanus .

Insects, a large and diverse group of terrestrial animals, are also an important source of invasive alien species. Scientific and public interest in invasive alien species is mainly driven by their socio-economic impact, resulting mainly from unintentional introductions in international agricultural, horticultural, and forestry trade. In Romania, 60 species of alien and invasive or potentially invasive Coleoptera have been reported: 52 species of alien and invasive or potentially invasive beetles reported in the first national list after the application of Regulation (EU) 1143 (2014). In addition to the species on the list, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, 1824, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, 1868 and Ips duplicatus Sahlberg, 1836 have been reported. A further five species are added in our latest contribution, Cis chinensis Lawrence, 1991 (Ciidae), Latheticus oryzae C.O. Waterhouse, 1880, Palorus subdepressus (Wollaston, 1864), Tribolium destructor Uyttenboogaart, 1933, and Litargus balteatus LeConte, 1856, which also includes occurrence data for 19 other species with deficient distribution found in unintentional collections. Subsequently, we developed a collection methodology, which was implemented between April and September 2024 in Constanța, Agigea, Valu lui Traian and Murfatlar, to facilitate the early detection and assessment of the biodiversity of alien coleopteran communities introduced in the port area of Romania, and the results of this collection will be published. At the national level, access to scientific information on invasive species and their risk analysis is still limited, which automatically leads to a lower level of public awareness. Citizen-scientist interaction and data generation are recognised as having great potential to contribute to biodiversity research due to the number of species observations that can be collected by the public. However, data uploaded to the various platforms or social media groups dedicated to biodiversity, and more specifically to invasive alien species, are lost due to a lack of connectivity, fragmentation, or lack of centralisation. Even unintentional collections appear to be essential for finding these species, yet until systematic collection methods or other mechanisms are applied to improve national surveillance strategies. In addition, there is a need to intensify actions to involve local communities in the detection and monitoring of these alien insects, because citizen science is an essential partnership for invasive alien species management and research, and also to centralise data on the dedicated platforms for these species which that can bypass the main detection systems.

A new species of Athous (Orthathous), Athous (Orthathous) stefani sp. n., is described from Bulgaria, based on a male specimen collected in June 2024 in Burgas District. This species is closely related to the small-sized Athous (Orthathous) barriesi Platia & Gudenzi, 1996 and Athous (Orthathous) stoimenovae Platia, 2001, but it can be easily distinguished by its deeply impressed frons, the length of the antennae, the highly glossy surface of the pronotum and the shape of the aedeagus. Additionally, an updated catalogue of the species of this subgenus with new distributional data is provided, increasing the number of known Athous (Orthathous) species in Bulgaria to 16.

The Oriental latrine fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is a rapidly expanding species, likely to become one of the most widely used species in forensic entomology in the near future, as it is currently recorded on every continent except Antarctica. In Europe, it has been confirmed only from a few Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Spain and Malta), together with the closely related and also expanding Chrysomya albiceps. Our study confirms that Chrysomya megacephala has arrived in Eastern Europe, with adult individuals of both sexes recorded during surveys and trapping in a nature reserve along the Black Sea coast in Romania. We present initial data on the overall complex assemblage of native and non-native sarcosaprophagous Diptera at this site and highlight important knowledge gaps. Given its forensic relevance and potential health risks, further investigations into its distribution, ecology, and invasion pathways in Europe are required, particularly as climate change may support its continued expansion into Central Europe.

Dilophus clavicornus Skartveit et Kaplan, 1996 (Diptera: Bibionidae: Bibioninae) is reported for the first time from Romania, Montenegro and France. Photos of male habitus, fore tibia and male terminalia are provided.