Movements of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) inhabiting cereal fields: a field tracing study.

Abstract

The individual movements of four carabid species were investigated by tracing beetles in the field using a portable radar system (harmonic radar). The field-inhabiting a Pterostichus melanarius Illiger, P. niger Schaller and Harpalus rufipes De Geer were traced in cereal fields. The movements of P. melanarius Mnd P. niger were also tracked in a wood and then compared with the movements of the forest-species Carabus nemoralis Müller. P. melanarius and P. niger displayed directed movements in cereal fields, although P. niger moved faster than P. melanarius. The movement pattern of H. rufipes in the field, and C. nemoralis and P. malanarius in the wood can be described as a c correlated random walk. In cereal fields, P. melanarius burrowed actively into the soil, and P. niger searched out crevices. In contrast, none of these two carabids burrowed in the forest soil, whereas C. nemoralis did. No statistically significant difference was observed between the movements of hungry and satiated beetles, although starved beetles tended to disperse shorter distances per move and turned back more often (especially P. niger). The significance of the various movement patterns exhibited by the species studied for their reproduction and survival on arable land is discussed.