Endogaeic ground beetles fauna in oilseed rape field in Croatia

Abstract

The abundance of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in oilseed rape field can be an important indicator of different agricultural measures in arable land fauna. Surveys about ground beetle fauna in Croatia are generally very scarce and only few research on oilseed rape were conducted. The aim of this study was to determine the endogaeic ground beetle fauna in oilseed rape field and to determine species abundance and frequency. The study was carried out in Podravina region of Croatia, from the end of May till the mid-September in 2015. Ground beetles were collected using endogaeic traps incorporated in the soil. Altogether, 487 individuals classified into 8 species were collected. Species with the highest abundance and frequency was Brachinus (Brachinus) psophia Audinet-Serville, 1821, which was classified as eudominant and constant species. The highest ground beetle abundance was observed in summer period. All of the species found were spring breeders, except for species Trechus (Trechus) quadristriatus (Schrank, 1781) which breeds in autumn.

Keywords

• croatia
• endogaeic
• fauna
• ground beetles
• oilseed rape