Author:
Khomitskiy Eugeniy,Avtaeva Tamara,Kushalieva Shapaat,Zamotajlov Alexandr,Shagidullin Rifgat,Sukhodolskaya Raisa
Abstract
Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) (the difference between males and females in size) is considered to be the physiological reaction to environmental conditions. We estimated body size variation and SSD in two populations of ground beetle Carabus exaratus. Beetles were sampled in Krasnodar Province (Russia) in the forb-cereal meadow and beech-hornbeam forest. We processed morphometric measurements in 521 specimen for six linear traits. Beetles from the meadow were slightly larger than from the forest. SSD was pronounced in a half of traits being the highest by elytra length. On a whole, SSD did not differ in the populations studied.