The present study had as objective determine the diversity and abundance of adults Carabidae and Staphylinidae in two areas, constituted by forest fragment and soybean/corn crops under conventional tillage and no-tillage systems and to analyze the distribution and preference of those beetles for the habitat. The beetles were sampled with 48 pitfall traps. In both experimental areas, two parallel transects of pitfall traps were installed. Each transect had 100 m in the crop and 100 m in the forest fragment. Four traps were close to each other (1 m) in the edge between the crop and the forest fragment, the other traps were installed each 10 m. The obtained data were submitted to the faunistic analysis and the preference of the species by habitat was obtained by cluster analysis. The results demonstrated that the type of crop system (conventional tillage or no-tillage) might have influenced the diversity of species of Carabidae and Staphylinidae. The cluster analysis evidenced that the carabids may prefer a specific habitat. In the present study, the distribution of carabids and staphylinids in the three habitats showed that these beetles have potential to be dispersed at great distances inside the crop.Key words: ground beetles, rove beetles, no-tillage systems, forest fragment, edge.Diversidade e preferência de habitat de Carabidae e Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) em dois agroecossistemas ResumoEste estudo teve como objetivo determinar a diversidade e abundância de adultos de Carabidae e Staphylinidae em duas áreas, constituídas por fragmentos florestais e culturas de soja/milho sob sistemas de plantio convencional e direto, e analisar a distribuição e a preferência desses insetos para o habitat. Os besouros foram amostrados com o uso de 48 armadilhas de solo do tipo Pitfall. Em ambas as áreas experimentais, foram instalados dois transectos paralelos de armadilhas; cada transecto teve 100 m na culturas e 100 m no fragmento florestal. Na borda entre a cultura e o fragmento de floresta foram instaladas quatro armadilhas, que ficaram distantes entre si por 1 m e as outras armadilhas, a cada 10 m. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos à análise faunística e a preferência das espécies para o habitat foi obtida pela análise cluster. Pelos resultados, observa-se que o tipo de sistema de cultivo (convencional ou plantio direto) pode ter influenciado a diversidade de espécies de Carabidae e Staphylinidae. A análise de cluster evidenciou que os carabídeos tiveram preferência por um habitat específico. Neste estudo, a distribuição de carabídeos e estafilinídeos nos três habitats mostraram que estes besouros têm potencial para se dispersarem em grandes distâncias no interior da cultura.Palavras-chave: Carabídeos, estafilinídeos, sistemas de plantio direto, fragmento florestal, borda.

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The (Calosoma granulatum Perty., 1830) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is an important predator of agricultural pests. The knowledge about the spatial and temporal behavior and influence of the environmental structure may be fundamental for the application of conservative biological control. This study evaluated whether phenology of cultivated plants and meteorological factors influencing the occurrence and spatial distribution of the predaceous beetle (Calosoma granulatum) in soybean/corn crop. Three hypotheses were tested: H1: that this predaceous beetle occurs naturally in aggregated spatial patterns; H2: its presence/absence in agricultural fields is influenced by meteorolical factors; and H3: the presence of the beetle bank in crop fields affects the carabid spatial distribution patterns. To test these hypotheses, we measured annual population fluctuations to examine the influence of meteorological factors, and to determinate the spatial distribution using dispersion indices and probabilistic models based on the Calosoma granulatum frequency distribution in one hectare of soybean/corn crop using multiple regression analysis (stepwise). The results showed that population peaks of the beetle in soybean crop were coincident with their reproductive period regardless of meteorological factors. The analyses of the spatial distributions showed that Calosoma granulatum has a clustered distribution, and the highest numbers were observed in soybean crop. These results support the hypothesis that the beetles have an aggregated pattern. However, the hypotheses that the occurrence and distribution of this predator is directly influenced by environmental distribution factors and by the presence of herbaceous refuge is not supported.

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