Ecology and Behavior of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Abstract

The ground beetles from the speciose beetle family Carabidae and, since their emergence in the Tertiary, have populated all habitats except deserts. Our knowledge about carabids is biased toward species living in north-temperate regions. Most carabids are predatory, consume a wide range of food types, and experience food shortages in the field. Feeding on both plant and animal material and scavenging are probably more significant than currently acknowledged. The most important mortality sources are abiotic factors and predators; pathogens and parasites can be important for some developmental stages. Although competition among larvae and adults does occur, the importance of competition as a community organization is not proven. Carabids are abundant in agricultural fields all over the world and may be important natural enemies of agricultural pests.

Carabid beetle assemblages in three environments in the Araucaria humid forest of southern Brazil

“…This sort of difference has been attributed to the affinity and adaptation by local species to their habitats (Erwin et al 2005). Soil humidity is reported as an important characteristic for carabid beetles (Lövei & Sunderland 1996), but our results do not show any relation to rainfall (Table III). Either this assemblage responds to humidity in a subtler way, or else the constant rainfall in this region never leads to low levels of soil humidity (especially in areas covered by forests).…”

Morphological polymorphism in an urban population of <em>Pterostichus melanarius</em> (Illiger, 1798) (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

“…Among short-winged males (3.75±0.37 mm) and females (3.94±0.33 mm) the length of wings differed significantly between the sexes (F=15.17, F 0.05 =3.88, P=1.3·10 −4 ). On average, according to the number of long-winged individuals (1.3%), the studied population can be characterized as a stable lowland P. melanarius population, in which long-winged individuals do not obtain advantage (Lovei, 1996;Matalin, 2003).…”

“…The morphological variability of populations of this ground beetle species has until now remained poorly studied. The major focus of research attention has been the wing polymorphism of this species (Lovei, 1996;Matalin, 2003). Lovei (1996) points out that the percentage of P. melanarius individuals with fully functional wings is 2% lower in stable ecosystems (that ar e not affected by periodic flooding with water, for example in forests), and increases in conditions of unstable hydrologic regimes (for example in the polder ecosystems of the Netherlands, small river and lake islands of Poland).…”

Effects of forest management on ground beetle diversity in alpine beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) stands

“…In particular, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) cover a wide range of life histories and microhabitat requirements, and therefore they have been widely recommended as bioindicators of forest management (Rainio and Niemelä, 2003). They are relatively easy and cost-efficient to assess with standardized methods (i.e., pitfall trapping), and are sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and vegetation structure (Stork, 1990;Butterfield, 1996;Lövei and Sunderland, 1996). Furthermore, changes in carabid abundance and species richness can be useful tools to evaluate the effects of human disturbance in forest ecosystems (Brandmayr et al, 2009).…”