Calodromius bifasciatus and other Carabidae on 26 oak-trunks in a nature reserve in the Netherlands

By

Felix, Ron
Wielink, Paul

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2011

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

100

Pages

533-544

Subjects

arboricolous , Dromius s.l , Laemostenus terricola , Phenology , spheres

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.100.1544

 

Abstract

The discovery of Calodromius bifasciatus in the nature reserve ‘De Kaaistoep’, the Netherlands, initiated research on this and related carabid beetles between 2000 and 2006. During this period we investigated the trunks of 26 Pedunculate oaks, mainly during nightly observations, to learn more about arboricolous carabid species. We observed more than 3000 specimens of 24 carabid species. The majority of these species were Dromius s.l., however C. bifasciatus dominated the dataset. Our data on phenology clearly show that C. bifasciatus is mainly active in winter; it even copulates just above freezing point. Other interesting observations were made as well; for instance the presence of a small sphere at the end of the abdomen and their hiding behaviour at low temperatures. Subsequently, we obtained similar information about other tree dwelling carabid species. In this article we present an overview of all species observed on the trunks, after which we shall focus on the observations made on Calodromius bifasciatus.