Many species of carabid beetles are important pre- and post-dispersal seed feeders of herbaceous plants. Here we summarise data from dissections, field observations, rearing and "cafeteria" experiments on 55 granivorous and 188 omnivorous species that occur in Italy. We tested the hypothesis that seed feeding carabids are restricted to taxa with pronounced morphological adaptations for manipulating and crushing seeds in both the larval and adult stages. The feeding guilds of carabids were rearranged into the following groups: (i) strict predators with long mandibles and predaceous larvae, often depending also on non-prey food; (ii) omnivorous species with stout mandibles and larvae of a seed-eating morphotype; (iii) granivorous species, feeding only on seeds with larvae sometimes of the scarabeoid c-form type. The seed feeding carabids in the Italian fauna belong to the tribe Zabrini (Amara and Zabrus genera) and to all the Harpalinae (sub)tribes, from Anisodactylini to Ditomina. The time of reproduction seems to be associated with habitat preference; wetland or dry open land, rather than true granivorous versus omnivorous habits, but in stenophagous seed feeders, a phenological coincidence with particular plants is sometimes recorded., Federica Talarico, Anita Giglio, Roberto Pizzolotto, Pietro Brandmayr., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Species assembly in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in local microhabitats was studied in a forest. The following questions were addressed: are there important filters that sort the species in the assemblages? If so, what is the specific nature of these filters? In order to address these questions rarefaction analysis was used to determine whether ground beetle species are distributed non-randomly. Next, the nature of filters was determined by analyzing (1) the community matrix and searching for the consequences of competitive exclusion and (2) species-environmental relations. Rarefaction analysis revealed that the species composition is filtered: species richness was less than expected and there were fewer than expected congeneric species coexisting at high beetle population densities. However, community matrix and body size analyses did not detect significant competition among the beetle species and the matrix was significantly nested. Species-environmental analyses indicated that the ground beetle assembly was strongly linked to ground vegetation. It is concluded that spatial distribution of ground beetles across local communities in this forest habitat is determined more by local environmental conditions than competition, and ground beetles do not interact strongly among themselves so that competitive effects do not play an important role in their distribution except at high beetle population densities. and Sonomi Shibuya, Kohei Kubota, Masahiko Ohsawa, Zaal Kikvidze.
Golf is a popular sport, with increasingly large areas of urban and peri-urban land being designated for golf course development. Yet, more than half of the land area of a typical golf course is considered rough and out-of-play areas that can, if managed appropriately, provide habitats for wildlife. Using pitfall traps, 6944 carabid beetles belonging to 72 species were collected from five urban golf courses and three areas designated for golf course development around the city of Helsinki, Finland in 2007. The courses were rich in carabid species and distinct in their species assemblages. Golf courses were dominated by habitat generalists, species capable of flight and medium to large-sized species. The three courses with areas designated for further golf course development showed that the assemblages of beetles associated with these golf courses have retained many elements from the pre-existing habitats. The oldest golf course is characterised by a more evenly distributed and diverse carabid beetle assemblage, probably due to its higher habitat heterogeneity and longer successional development. However, even this golf course is dominated by generalist species, implying that golf courses may not provide suitable habitats for specialists. It is assumed that the high species richness of golf courses is attributed to the high habitat diversity of these environments, ranging from the strongly human-modified to more natural patches, which provide habitats for many generalist and open-habitat species. Golf courses may, however, with the appropriate management of out-of-play areas provide an opportunity for conserving biodiversity.
Pitfall traps are widely used for sampling ground-dwelling arthropods. Their sampling efficiency is affected by several factors, e.g. material, size and modification of parts of the trap and sampling design. Pitfall trap sampling is also affected by the accumulation of plant litter in the traps, rain fall and by-catches of small vertebrates, which may cause a bias in the catch by obstructing traps or attracting certain insects. A roof that prevents rain and plant litter entering a trap, prevents dilution of the preservative and escape of arthropods. The main goal of present study was to compare the effect of four types of differently combined funnel and roof pitfall traps on the capture efficiency of epigeal arthropods. We found that a funnel and/or a roof had no effect on spider catches. Total abundance of large carabids and thus the total abundance of ground beetles was lower in funnel pitfall traps without a roof than in other types of traps. However, funnel pitfall traps with roofs collected significantly more carabid beetles, especially individuals of those species that are large or good fliers. We conclude that funnel pitfall traps with roofs have no negative effects on capture efficiency of ground beetles and spiders, therefore application of this sampling technique is strongly recommended.
Parental care in which females attend their offspring is recorded in over 30 species of ground beetles. Despite this, there is no quantitative data on the fate of the offspring when the mother is experimentally removed. This paper investigates parental care in Pterostichus anthracinus (Coleoptera: Carabidae). The objectives of the study were to estimate: (1) egg survival when the female is removed; (2) the ability of females to defend their eggs from attack by predators; (3) the ability of females to repair a damaged nest in which egg attendance takes place. In the laboratory, the reproductive activity of P. anthracinus lasted four months (from May till August) and peaked in late June. Mean (± SE) number of eggs in each clutch was 25.25 ± 2.19. All of the egg clutches were guarded by a female. Female attendance had no effect on egg mortality due to microbial attack. The duration of embryonic development lasted on average 5.2–5.3 days, and did not differ between the groups with and without maternal care. In P. anthracinus maternal care is important in preventing egg mortality due to predators. In the laboratory the percentage mortality of eggs without maternal care due to predators was 100%. In the group in which females attended their eggs, percentage mortality of offspring due to predation was about 51%. Female ability to repair damaged nests is important in preventing dehydration and reducing predation pressure. This laboratory study provides the fi rst quantitative data on the importance of maternal care in ground beetles in determining the survival of their offspring.
Predace semen je strategie, kdy živočich za účelem obživy napadá a zničí mnoho semen rostlin. V tomto krátkém sdělení přibližujeme aktuální poznatky o střevlíkovitých predátorech semen po uvolnění z rostliny. Střevlíkovití brouci zpravidla preferují semena odpovídající velikosti jejich těla, výběr druhů preferovaných semen je však pro daný druh střevlíka typický a během sezony se nemění. Během sezony značně kolísá množství spotřebovaných semen, za optimálních podmínek vysoké hojnosti a aktivity brouků může být denně zničeno až 1000 semen na ploše 1 m2. Střevlíkovití přitom preferují semena hvězdnicovitých rostlin (Asteraceae), jako jsou pampelišky (Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia) nebo pcháč oset (Cirsium arvense), dále semena brukvovitých (Brassicaceae), jako je kokoška pastuší tobolka (Capsella bursa-pastoris). Střevlíkovití tak přispívají k udržení biologické rovnováhy., Seed predation is a strategy where an animal attacks and kills the seeds of plants. In this contribution we report on the latest knowledge on carabid beetles (Carabidae) feeding on seeds after dispersal from the plant. In general, carabid beetles prefer seeds of appropriate size to their body size, but the selection of seed species is species-specific and remains stable across the season. The consumption considerably varies throughout the year, and under optimal conditions the carabid beetles may destroy up to 1000 seeds per 1 m2. Carabid beetles prefer seeds of Asteraceae, such as Dandelion (Taraxacum) or Canadian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), and of Brassicaceae, such as the Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). In this way the carabid beetles contribute to the balance in ecosystems., and Pavel Saska, Alois Honěk, Zdenka Martinková.
Střevlík uherský (Carabus hugaricus hungaricus) je druhem dlouhostébelných panonských stepí. Patří mezi zvláště chráněné brouky a je rovněž druhem evropsky významným. V České republice přežívá už pouze na Pouzdřanské stepi a na Pálavě. V článku shrnujeme výsledky výzkumů jeho stanovištních preferencí, demografie a mobility, diskutujeme možnosti jeho ochrany a zároveň se dotýkáme bolestivého tématu ochranářské péče o lokality tohoto druhu., The Carabus hungaricus ground beetle is a highly endangered, dry-grassland specialist listed in the EU Habitats Directive. In the Czech Republic, the beetle survives on the last two sites including the Pouzdřany steppe, and the Pálava hills. Here we report results of extensive mark-recapture studies of this species, including its habitat preference, demography, and dispersal abilities. Furthermore, we discuss the options for its conservation and conservation management of the two inhabited sites., Lukáš Čížek ... [et al.]., and Pokračování čl. na str. CXV kuléru Živy 5/2014
We studied the effect of flooding on a carabid community inhabiting grassland in a large river valley (W Poland). We used pitfall-traps to catch beetles from April to November 1999–2001. Some of the samples collected were preceded by floods during the collecting period, which enabled us to evaluate the effects of flooding on species composition and abundance. We collected 17,722 individuals belonging to 108 species. The number of species and individuals per sample differed between plots and showed a nonlinear decrease over time, from spring to autumn. Carabids were more abundant in samples collected after floods than in the control samples. In contrast, the expected cumulative number of species as a function of the number of individuals collected was lower in samples collected after floods than in the control samples. In the case of the most abundant species the species-specific responses in terms of the numbers caught after flooding differed, with those of (e.g. Agonum micans) increasing and those of (Amara plebeja, Epaphius secalis) decreasing. This study shows that floods filter the community with the result that some species increase in abundance but the overall species richness decreases. Therefore natural floods are important in shaping the structure of communities of epigeic carabids on floodplains., Pawel Sienkiewicz, Michal Zmihorski., and Obsahuje seznam literatury