Development of the Heteropteran fauna after an experimental forest fire in a chestnut forest in the southern part of Switzerland (Ticino).
By using several standardised sampling methods, Heteroptera were collected before and after a fire experiment. The numbers of immatures increased more in the burnt plot compared to the control plot. The population of Kleidocerys resedae PANZER (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae), a species which hibernates in forest litter, was significantly reduced by the fire. One pyrophilous species, Aradus lugubris FALLÉN (Heteroptera: Aradidae), was only collected immediately after the fire. It disappeared at the end of May and was never found in the control plot.