Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:bold>Aim </jats:bold> Two hemipteran species were chosen as a study system for the comparative analysis of patch occupancy and spatial population structure of insects sharing a common host plant. This study tested whether (1) the incidence in the host plant patches differed between the two species, and (2) the two species exhibited a different spatial population structure, i.e. were they affected differentially by isolation and area of the host plant patches.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Location </jats:bold> The porphyry landscape north of Halle (Saale) in Germany comprising 506 patches of the host plant <jats:italic>Brachypodium pinnatum</jats:italic>.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods </jats:bold> The host plant patches were surveyed for the two hemipterans. To assess the influence of patch quality on species occurrence the patches were characterized by mean cover abundance of <jats:italic>B. pinnatum</jats:italic>, type of subsoil, slope, exposure, and shading. The spatial configuration of the patches was considered by patch area and isolation. The influence of the habitat factors and the spatial configuration on the occupancy of the two species was analysed by logistic regression.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results </jats:bold> <jats:italic>Adarrus multinotatus</jats:italic> was found in 441 patches, while <jats:italic>Neophilaenus albipennis</jats:italic> was found in only 90 patches. While <jats:italic>A. multinotatus</jats:italic> showed virtually no relationship to the habitat factors, the occupancy of <jats:italic>N. albipennis</jats:italic> was influenced by subsoil type, cover abundance, and shading. The effects of area and isolation on occupancy of the patches also differed between the two species. The occupancy of <jats:italic>N. albipennis</jats:italic> was determined largely by area and isolation, whereas in <jats:italic>A. multinotatus</jats:italic> no considerable effect of spatial configuration was found.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Main conclusions </jats:bold> The study revealed a marked difference between the two hemipteran species in respect of spatial population structure. <jats:italic>Adarrus multinotatus</jats:italic> built up a ‘patchy population’, whereas <jats:italic>N. albipennis</jats:italic> showed a ‘metapopulation’ structure within the same set of patches in the same landscape. Spatial population structure was found to be not only a function of spatial configuration of habitat patches, but population structure differed between the habitat generalist <jats:italic>A. multinotatus</jats:italic> and the habitat specialist <jats:italic>N. albipennis</jats:italic>.</jats:p>