The Ground Arthropods of Some Chalk and Limestone Quarries in England

Abstract

A survey of Carabidae (Coleoptera), Opiliones, Chilopoda, Diplopoda and Isopoda in chalk and limestone quarries was made during 1975. Eleven sites were compared in Kent, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire by continuous pitfall trapping from the beginning of May to the end of October. Additional records were obtained from fifteen other quarries in thirteen counties, mainly by hand collecting. Ninety-nine species were recorded from the eleven sites, of which twelve species were widespread. Local or uncommon species from each group of invertebrates were found in one or more of the three counties and these records from quarry habitats extend the known natural range of several species. Indices of similarity between pairs of sites were calculated using the logarithms of the numbers of individuals in the traps. The sites were then grouped and classified according to the presence or absence of discriminant species. The relative importance of geographical proximity and vegetational redevelopment in old quarries was analysed. Seasonal changes in the numbers of species and numbers of individuals were also discussed. Lists of Staphylinidae, Formicidae, Pseudoscorpionidea and Mollusca from some of the sites are given in an Appendix.