Abstract. Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the time ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) survive during actual and simulated flood conditions. The effects of three variants of potential flood conditions were tested: (1) beetles trapped on the surface of flood water; (2) beetles trapped in air pockets; (3) submersion of beetles in flood water without access to air. Ground beetles trapped on the surface of water survived more than two weeks (Carabus granulatus -up to 16 days; Oxypselaphus obscurus -up to 22 days). Carabus granulatus in simulated hibernation chambers that had air-pockets also survived for 15 days. The time for which ground beetles submerged without access to air survived differed significantly among species and was affected by season. They survived longest in mid-spring and late-autumn when water temperature is low. In mid-spring, survival times for C. granulatus and Platynus assimilis were 12 days and 9 days, respectively. During late summer and early autumn all species survived for a shorter period of time. In August, at least half of the individuals tested were dead after three days of immersion (water temperature 16-18°C). Removal of both of the elytra of adult of C. granulatus resulted in them surviving immersion for a shorter period, which indicates that air stored in the sub-elytral cavity is used to prolong the period they can survive immersion. The results of these experiments broaden the knowledge of how adult beetles survive seasonal flooding and are able to persist in floodplain habitats.

http://www.eje.cz brood care (Wilson, 1971; Schultner et al., 2017). Subsocial postovipositional care, characterized by prolonged association between adults and young (Eickwort, 1981), is the most primitive level of social interaction involving parents and offspring, and it is of interest because analysis of simple parental responses may elucidate ways toward complex eusocial behaviour (Michener, 1969). Different schemes are used for classifying parental care in different taxa. A wide variety of subsocial forms are recognized in species of Coleoptera that have no kind of eusocial or "true social" parental behaviour (Brandmayr, 1992). Subsociality in beetles is described for several families including, for instance, Carabidae, Curculionidae, Passalidae, Scarabaeidae, Silphidae and Staphylinidae (Wong et al., 2013). Classifi cation of parental care in ground beetles (Carabidae), in particular, was elaborated by Brandmayr and Zetto-Brandmayr (1979), and it includes two types of parental care. The fi rst type (Brutfürsorge, egg-watching, egg attendance) implies a strict dependence of the survival of the fi rst stages on the parent. Nevertheless, no direct contact takes place between eggs or larvae and adults, and there is

The patterns of seasonal activity, sex and age structure, reproductive characteristics and overwintering distribution of Amara fulva were studied in the southwest forest zone of the East European plain. A total of 1212 adults (664 males and 548 females) and 38 larvae were collected using pitfall traps. All adults were dissected to determine their reproductive condition. 185 larvae and 5 adults were collected by sampling soil. Adults of A. fulva were active from the first half of June until October with a single peak of activity in August. From June only postgenerative and newly emerged beetles were caught in traps. Immature and mature adults were recorded from the second half of July. At the end of August, more than 90% of the population was represented made up of mature adults. Immature individuals were trapped up until October after which they overwintered. Oviposition period lasted 11 weeks (from the mid-July to the end of September). Maximum number of mature eggs in ovaries was recorded in the second half of August. Larvae of A. fulva were caught from the second half of August to October and the peak in their subsoil activity was recorded in the first half of September. The life cycle of A. fulva is described as facultatively-biennial. Overwintering larvae and adults occurred in different parts of the floodplain. Larvae preferred to overwinter in soil under Persicaria maculosa near the edge of a river, while adults overwintered far from water and, rarely under tussock grasses on sandbars. The larvae of A. fulva cache the seeds of P. maculosa. Rearing A. fulva under field conditions revealed that this species takes 254-328 days complete its development, which includes the winter period.

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