Ground Beetles: Their Role in Ecological and Environmental Studies

Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are a group of insects which have a considerable importance in a range of biological fields. Because of their general ease of capture, identification and culturing, they have provided good models for those in the field of studying population dynamics of insects. In recent years, they have been a focus for ecologists and others concerned with agricultural practices, pest control and conservation. This book, based on edited contributions from the 7th European Carabidologists' Meeting held at the Royal Entomological Society in London in September 1989, summarizes the latest advances in the use of beetles in a range of ecological studies.

Table of Contents:
The carabid community living under the bark of australian eucalyptus, M. Baehr; evolutionary ecology of carabids in the Galapogos Archipelago, K. Desender et al; sympatric speciation by habitat specialization and parasitism in carabid beetles, J. A. Anderson and A. Skorping; the significance of intra- and interspecific competition in carabid beetles, M. Loreau; distribution of leg-colour morphs of ptlerostichus madidus (f) in relation to climate, C.E. Terrell-Nield; relationships between crop types, carabid phenology and aphid predation in agroecosystems, T. Hance; diurnal activity of carabid beetles living on arable land, B. Kegel; the role of man-made grassy habitats in enhancing carbid populations in arable land, M.B. Thomas; carabid beetles in agricultural fields in Eastern Europe, G.L. Lovel and M. Sarospataki; spatial and temporal effects of dimethoate use on populations of carabidae and their prey in winter wheat, S.J. Duffield and S.E. Baker; techniques for investigating the routes of exposure of carabid beetles to pesticides, J.R.M. Thacker and J.M. Hickman; effects of insecticides on carbidae and the significance of these effects for agriculture and species number, Th. Basedow; success of European carabid species - preadaptation for synanthropy, J.R. Spence; spatial distribution of carbid beetles in the Southern Finnish Taiga - the question of scale, J. Niemela; changes in carbid beetle populations on a regenerating, excavated peat bog in northwest Germany, H. Frambs; ground beetle communities in a mediterranean area (Tolfa Mountains, Central Italy), F. Comandini and A. Vigna Taglianti; ecological studies on the carbid fauna (coleoptera) of a ruderal ecosystem in Berlin, H. Gruttke and G. Weigmann; spatial and temperal stability of carbid communities in a grass/arable mosaic, M.L. Luff; the carbid groupings of the Nebrodi Mountains in Sicily - ecological and historical indicators, R. Pizzolotto and P.Brandmayr; the effects of management on the occurrence of some carbid species in grassland, S.P. Rushton et al; possibilities of short-term carbid sampling for site assessment studies, J.P. Maelfait and K. Desender; a preliminary classification of European grassland habitats using carbid beetles, M.D. Eyre and M.L. Luff; carabid beetles as indicators of habitat destruction caused by military tanks, D. Mossakowski et al; on life history tactics in carbid beetles - are there only Spring and Autumn breeders?, P.J.W. Den Boer-Daanje; poecilus lepidus Leske (carabidae, coleoptera) a species with the ability to be a Spring and Autumn breeder, W. Paarmann; on phenology and life cycle of scarites (scaritini, carabidae, coleptera) from Central Amazonian floodplains, J. Adis et al; spatial distribution of males and females of carabus arcensis hbst. in the breeding season, L. Grum ... part contents