DISPERSAL OF GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) ON SOIL SURFACE

Abstract

Marked adults and pitfall traps were used to study the dispersal on soil surface of four ground beetle species. Compared recaptures of Pterostichus melanarius Ill. and Harpalus erraticus Say released into two different plots indicated that carabids disperse more rapidly in cultivated than in cereal crops and that males of both species are usually more active than females. No difference, however, in the activity and dispersal rate could be established between sexes for H. compar Lec. and H. pennsylvanicus DeG. Each of the three following species tended to disperse in a different direction: P. melanarius toward the southwest, H. compar toward the northwest, and H. pennsylvanicus toward the northeast. The relatively high proportion of recoveries suggests also considerable wandering movements of the beetles inside the plots.