1. Distribution and habitat selection of Western (Osmoderma eremita) and Eastern hermit beetle (O. barnabita) in the contact area in SloveniaAl Vrezec, Špela Ambrožič Ergaver, Andrej Kapla, Maarten De Groot, Andrej Kobler, Klemen Čandek, Alenka Žunič Kosi, 2025, published scientific conference contribution abstract Keywords: pheromone traps, Hermit Beetle, genetic structure
Published in DiRROS: 21.01.2026; Views: 215; Downloads: 122
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2. Vibration-induced freezing in Aegorhinus nodipennis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) : implications for pest management in hazelnutsNataša Stritih Peljhan, Alenka Žunič Kosi, Andres Eduardo Quiroz Cortez, Patricia D. Navarro, María José Lisperguer F., Tommaso De Gregorio, Matteo Maspero, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: The weevil Aegorhinus nodipennis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (Hope, 1834) is a polyphagous woodboring beetle of economic concern in Chile and southern Argentina, mainly affecting berries and hazelnut. Although insecticides may be applied in hazelnut orchards, their effectiveness is limited and can be environmentally impactful, underscoring the need for alternative, sustainable control strategies. Attempts to exploit semiochemicals for attraction or repellence have yielded only modest results, failing to support effective trapping or deterrence. This study investigates substrate-borne vibrations as a complementary behavioral management tool by examining their potential to induce defensive responses in A. nodipennis. We demonstrate that walking individuals exhibit a stereotyped freezing response to vibrational stimuli, with peak sensitivity at 50 to 150 Hz (median threshold at 0.71 m/s2) and a secondary sensitivity increase at 1–2 kHz. The duration of the immobile phase increases strongly with stimulus duration, with a median around 200 s following a 5 s stimulus, but is much less affected by amplitude once the threshold is exceeded. In addition, weevils exhibit a marked postfreeze locomotor suppression, with walking speed reduced to 25% to 30% of prestimulus levels. These findings suggest that extended low-amplitude vibrational stimuli could effectively suppress activity and feeding. This offers a novel, nonchemical, and potentially economically viable approach in managing this pest. Deterrent vibrations could be deployed directly on host plants or on structural barriers in orchards. This study provides a foundation for integrating vibrational cues into pest management frameworks for A. nodipennis and related weevils, though results are currently limited to females.
Keywords: substrate-borne vibration, locomotor suppression, vibrational deterrence, applied biotremology
Published in DiRROS: 19.12.2025; Views: 360; Downloads: 198
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3. Chemosensory behavioural responses to prey and conspecifc chemical stimuli in Elaphe quatuorlineata (Bonnaterre, 1790)Filip Lah, Alenka Žunič Kosi, Matjaž Bedjanič, Anamarija Žagar, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: Skin lipids and other semiochemicals of the integument of snakes act as chemical signals and have various functions, but the behavioural responses to semiochemicals are rarely studied. In this study, we isolated the scent of the Four-lined Snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata) both from a living individual and from shed skin. We then examined the tongue-ficking responses of these snakes to determine if isolated lipid extractions of snake skin could be recognized by conspecifcs. We detected that the snakes ficked their tongues more frequently when exposed to the scent of prey and shed skin extract than to a control with no scent. We also examined the infuence of ontogeny, with adult female snakes exhibiting higher relative tongue fick rates than subadult females. Elaphe quatuorlineata is protected and listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN, and these snakes are difcult to detect for biomonitoring purposes due to their elusive lifestyle. The use of semiochemicals that elicit behavioural responses could facilitate feld searches, improve knowledge of the species’ biology and behaviour, and contribute to its conservation.
Keywords: chemical communication, sexual cues, dietary cues, pheromones, behaviour, snakes, protected species
Published in DiRROS: 25.09.2025; Views: 433; Downloads: 207
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4. Predatory bug Picromerus bidens communicates at different frequency levelsAndrej Čokl, Alenka Žunič Kosi, Meta Virant-Doberlet, 2011, original scientific article Abstract: The Asopinae (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) are a subfamily of stinkbugs with predaceous feeding habits and poorly understood communication systems. In this study we recorded vibratory signals emitted by Picromerus bidens L. on a non-resonant substrate and investigated their frequency characteristics. Males and females produced signals by vibration of the abdomen and tremulation. The female and male songs produced by abdominal vibrations showed gender-specific time structure. There were no differences in the temporal patterns of male or female tremulatory signals. The signals produced by abdominal vibrations were emitted below 600 Hz whereas tremulatory signals had frequency ranges extending up to 4 kHz. Spectra of male vibratory signals produced by abdominal vibrations contained different peaks, each of which may be dominant within the same song sequence. Males alternated with each other during production of rivalry signals, using different dominant frequency levels. We show that the vibratory song repertoire of P. bidens is broader than those of other predatory stinkbugs that have been investigated. The emission of vibrational signals with different dominant frequencies but the same production mechanism has not yet been described in heteropteran insects, and may facilitate location of individual sources of vibration within a group.
Keywords: substrate-borne vibrational communication, signal production, signal frequency variation
Published in DiRROS: 12.03.2025; Views: 797; Downloads: 523
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5. Palomena prasina (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) vibratory signals and their tuning with plant substratesJernej Polajnar, Andreja Kavčič, Alenka Žunič Kosi, Andrej Čokl, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: Palomena prasina is interesting for the study of vibrational communication within the Pentatomid subfamily Pentatominae, because its host range is limited to woody plants, unlike the better known Nezara viridula, whose vibrational communication is commonly used as a model for the whole family. The vibrational repertoire of P. prasina was described several decades ago and is redescribed in this paper using modern methods for non-contact vibration recording. Additionally, we hypothesized that this species has retained the capacity for signal frequency variation necessary for tuning to resonance properties of various host plants of Pentatominae, but if the signals are emited in the absence of mechanical feedback, they are tuned more specifically to their native acoustic environment – woody plants. By recording live bugs signalling on different substrates and comparing spectral properties of their signals among substrates, we found that there is a match between the signals emitted on a woody branch and those emitted on a non-resonant surface, while spectral properties of signals emitted on herbaceous plants differ. Our findings provide evidence in support of the signal tuning hypothesis and shed further light on the crucial role of substrate in vibrational communication of insects.
Keywords: vibrational communication, signal propagation, frequency characteristics
Published in DiRROS: 12.03.2025; Views: 794; Downloads: 572
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6. Functional diversity of vibrational signaling systems in insectsMeta Virant-Doberlet, Nataša Stritih Peljhan, Alenka Žunič Kosi, Jernej Polajnar, 2023, review article Abstract: Communication by substrate-borne mechanical waves is widespread in insects. The specifics of vibrational communication are related to heterogeneous natural substrates that strongly influence signal transmission. Insects generate vibrational signals primarily by tremulation, drumming, stridulation, and tymbalation, most commonly during sexual behavior but also in agonistic, social, and mutualistic as well as defense interactions and as part of foraging strategies. Vibrational signals are often part of multimodal communication. Sensilla and organs detecting substrate vibration show great diversity and primarily occur in insect legs to optimize sensitivity and directionality. In the natural environment, signals from heterospecifics, as well as social and enemy interactions within vibrational communication networks, influence signaling and behavioral strategies. The exploitation of substrate-borne vibrational signaling offers a promising application for behavioral manipulation in pest control.
Keywords: biotremology, substrate-borne communication, signaling context, vibrosensory evolution, multimodal signaling, pest management, insects, zoology
Published in DiRROS: 04.03.2025; Views: 996; Downloads: 617
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7. More than stridulation : signal interaction and constraint in the complex vibroacoustic courtship of a cricketNataša Stritih Peljhan, Alenka Žunič Kosi, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Field crickets (Gryllidae) produce sounds by tegminal stridulation, well-studied for its role in female attraction and choice. However, understanding female preferences for their courtship song remains elusive, despite considering additional chemical, visual, and thermal signals. Beyond stridulation, crickets also display vibrational courtship behaviours that remain largely unexplored. Using Acheta domesticus as a model, we conduct the first comprehensive analysis of the entirety of vibroacoustic courtship signals in crickets, including their interaction. Employing audio recording, laser vibrometry, and videorecording, we unveil a complex signal involving simultaneous wing stridulation, body tremulation, and leg drumming against the substrate in a prolonged display, unique among insects. We identify robust correlations, coupling, and coordination between these signal components. We show the tightest coupling between the two types of stridulation pulses, and between tremulation and drumming signals, while drumming-stridulation coupling is less consistent, revealing a constraint on drumming performance. This constraint in the expression of one signal component, without a trade-off, represents a specific case within complex dynamic signalling. In addition, we find no correlation between drumming rate and its accuracy relative to stridulation, challenging common expectations. Our findings indicate that the information conveyed by the complex courtship display in A. domesticus is not simply proportional to that in the song, shedding light on previous ambiguities surrounding its function. Spectral-intensity analysis indicates the closest perceptual connection between stridulation and drumming signals, likely commonly influencing female choice, while proposing another function for tremulation. Further research should delve deeper into the function of this intricate signal.
Keywords: male quality, substrate vibration, sound, complex signal, dynamic signal, insects, zoology, biology
Published in DiRROS: 04.12.2024; Views: 926; Downloads: 1358
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8. Dodatne raziskave kvalifikacijskih vrst Natura 2000 ter izvajanje spremljanja stanja populacij izbranih ciljnih vrst hroščev v letih 2018, 2019 in 2020 : Carabus variolusus, Lucanus cervus, Rosalia alpina, Morimus funereus, Osmoderma eremita, Cucujus cinnaberinus, Leptodirus hochenwartii, Graphoderus bilineatusAl Vrezec, Špela Ambrožič Ergaver, Andrej Kapla, Stiven Kocijančič, Klemen Čandek, Urška Ratajc, Alenka Žunič Kosi, 2020, final research report Abstract: V končnem poročilu so predstavljeni rezultati terenskih raziskav osmih varstveno pomembnih vrst hroščev v Sloveniji v letih 2018, 2019 in 2020. Za močvirskega krešiča (Carabus variolosus), rogača (Lucanus cervus), alpskega kozlička (Rosalia alpina), bukovega kozlička (Morimus funereus), drobnovratnika (Leptodirus hochenwartii) in ovratniškega plavača (Graphoderus bilineatus) je v Sloveniji že vzpostavljena shema populacijskega in distribucijskega monitoringa. V obdobju 2018–2020 smo izvedli vzorčenja za populacijski monitoring za močvirskega krešiča (12. do 14. snemanje), rogača (12. do 14. snemanje), alpskega (11. do 13. snemanje), bukovega kozlička (10. do 12. snemanje), drobnovratnika (4. do 6. snemanje) in ovratniškega plavača (3. snemanje) ter vzorčenja za distribucijski monitoring za močvirskega krešiča in rogača. Narejena je bila evalvacija rezultatov monitoringa v obdobju 2007 - 2020, ki kaže na upadajoče populacije pri rogaču in drobnovratniku ter na stabilne populacije pri močvirskem krešiču (z močnimi lokalnimi upadi), alpskem in bukovem kozličku. Na novo so glede na zbrane podatke ovrednotene SDF ocene in podane smernice za nadaljnje aktivnosti monitoringa hroščev do leta 2022 (EU poročanje). V poročilu podajamo rezultate prvega cikla snemanja monitoringa škrlatnega kukuja (Cucujus cinnaberinus). V poročilu so podani izsledki genetske analize populacije puščavnika (Osmoderma eremita compl.) v Sloveniji, kjer smo potrdili prisotnost dveh vrst: Osmoderma eremita in Osmoderma barnabita. Glede na vsako vrsto so podane ocene velikosti populacije po območjih in predlagana območja za dopolnitev Natura 2000 omrežja glede na zahteve biogeografskega seminarja.
Keywords: monitoring, Slovenija
Published in DiRROS: 04.09.2024; Views: 1294; Downloads: 527
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9. Čmrlji in čebele samotarke - prezrti opraševalciDanilo Bevk, 2015, other monographs and other completed works Abstract: Kako privabiti divje opraševalce?
Število divjih opraševalcev najlažje povečamo tako, da jim zagotovimo dovolj hrane in varnih mest za gnezdenje. Hrano zagotovimo s sajenjem rastlin, na katerih nabirajo cvetni prah in medičino in z redkejšo košnjo dela travnikov. Pomembno je, da je hrana na razpolago tudi v času, ko kmetijske rastline, ki bi jih želeli opraševati, ne cvetijo. Gnezdilna mesta najlažje zagotovimo z nastavljanjem posebnih gnezdilnic. Pomembno je tudi, da opustimo ali vsaj zmanjšamo uporabo pesticidov. V ustreznem okolju se bodo opraševalci naselili sami in ne bodo zahtevali posebne skrbi.
Keywords: čmrlji, čebele samotarke, opraševanje
Published in DiRROS: 04.09.2024; Views: 1113; Downloads: 894
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