<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Black elder (<italic>Sambucus nigra</italic> L.) commonly occurs throughout the country – it can be found in forests, thickets, parks, balks or in home gardens. It is a valuable reservoir of food for beneficial insects and a place of refuge or wintering. Almost every part of the elderberry plant has some uses: the fruits, flowers, leaves, roots, pith and bark. Its fruits and flowers are used in herbal medicine and in the kitchen. <italic>S. nigra</italic> is a primary host of <italic>Aphis sambuci</italic> L. feeding, which weakens plant growth, reduces flowering and fruiting, and decreases the ornamental value of these shrubs. Aphid populations are limited by a group of predatory and parasitic organisms, among which an important role is played by predatory Syrphidae. Observations were conducted in the years 2009 and 2010 in Krakow (south Poland, 19°57’E, 50°03’N). Significantly more numerous <italic>A. sambuci</italic> colonies were observed in 2009 – in the maximum of their abundance, 960 specimens per shoot were noted. Seven syrphid species were noted in <italic>A. sambuci</italic> colonies: <italic>Episyrphus balteatus</italic> (Deg.), <italic>Epistrophe</italic> eligans (Harr.), <italic>Sphaerophoria scripta</italic> (L.), <italic>Syrphus ribesii</italic> (L.), <italic>Syrphus vitripennis</italic> Meig., <italic>Scaeva pyrastri</italic> (L.) and <italic>Eupeodes corollae</italic> (Fabr.). <italic>E. balteatus</italic> dominated in both years of research. Research on the effectiveness of Syrphidae was performed on four commonly occurring species – the most voracious were <italic>Epistrophe eligans</italic> (Harr.) larvae, eating up to 676 <italic>A. sambuci</italic> aphids during their development.</p></abstract>

Black elder (Sambucus nigra L.) commonly occurs throughout the country – it can be found in forests, thickets, parks, balks or in home gardens. It is a valuable reservoir of food for beneficial insects and a place of refuge or wintering. Almost every part of the elderberry plant has some uses: the fruits, flowers, leaves, roots, pith and bark. Its fruits and flowers are used in herbal medicine and in the kitchen. S. nigra is a primary host of Aphis sambuci L. feeding, which weakens plant growth, reduces flowering and fruiting, and decreases the ornamental value of these shrubs. Aphid populations are limited by a group of predatory and parasitic organisms, among which an important role is played by predatory Syrphidae. Observations were conducted in the years 2009 and 2010 in Krakow (south Poland, 19°57’E, 50°03’N). Significantly more numerous A. sambuci colonies were observed in 2009 – in the maximum of their abundance, 960 specimens per shoot were noted. Seven syrphid species were noted in A. sambuci colonies: Episyrphus balteatus (Deg.), Epistrophe eligans (Harr.), Sphaerophoria scripta (L.), Syrphus ribesii (L.), Syrphus vitripennis Meig., Scaeva pyrastri (L.) and Eupeodes corollae (Fabr.). E. balteatus dominated in both years of research. Research on the effectiveness of Syrphidae was performed on four commonly occurring species – the most voracious were Epistrophe eligans (Harr.) larvae, eating up to 676 A. sambuci aphids during their development.

<italic>Sambucus nigra</italic> L. as a reservoir of beneficial insects (Diptera, Syrphidae)

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Biotechnology and Horticulture, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 29 Listopada 54, 31-425 Kraków,

Folia Horticulturae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

 L. as a reservoir of beneficial insects (Diptera, Syrphidae)

Black elder (Sambucus nigra L.) commonly occurs throughout the country – it can be found in forests, thickets, parks, balks or in home gardens. It is a...

Sambucus nigra L. as a reservoir of beneficial insects (Diptera, Syrphidae)

Published Online: Dec 28, 2016

Page range: 209 - 216

Received: May 09, 2016

Accepted: Nov 17, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fhort-2016-0025

Keywords
effectiveness, elderberry, elder aphid, syrphids

© 2016 Elżbieta Wojciechowicz-Żytko et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Sambucus nigra L. as a reservoir of beneficial insects (Diptera, Syrphidae)

Published Online: Dec 28, 2016

Page range: 209 - 216

Received: May 09, 2016

Accepted: Nov 17, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/fhort-2016-0025

Keywordseffectiveness, elderberry, elder aphid, syrphids

© 2016 Elżbieta Wojciechowicz-Żytko et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
effectiveness, elderberry, elder aphid, syrphids