The selected insect families and their seasonal dynamics in the Mordovia State nature reserve in the burned areas of 2021

Forest fires are one of the main environmental factors that change the habitat and initiate the change of new forest communities. Burned areas are habitats representing a wide range of ecological niches, which can be used by many species of insects. It is especially interesting to observe the restoration processes in the burned areas in the first years after the fires. In 2021-2022, on the territory of Mordovia State Nature Reserve, studies were conducted on the plots that had been burned in 2010 and 2021. Traps with bait based on beer and sugar were used for the study. Our results indicate that the largest number of flying insect forms in the first year after the fire was higher in unburned areas, and the parts of burnt areas located in the depths of the burned territory had the smallest number. The number of beetles was greatest in areas which were not affected by fire. Lepidoptera immediately returned to the site of the fire in 2021. Already the next year their number became much higher. There was no clear dependence on Hymenoptera. The number of Neuroptera and Blattodea was higher in the burned areas of 2010. The seasonal dynamics of Coleoptera in the hot springs was one-peak, whereas in unburned areas it is usually two-peak.