Abstract

CASTRO, Adela V.; PORRINI, Darío P.  and  CICCHINO, Armando C.. Peridomestic ground beetle assemblage (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a Celtis tala forest from southeastern Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. [online]. 2012, vol.71, n.3-4, pp.231-247. ISSN 0373-5680.

Our  purpose  was  to  perform  a  research  on  the peridomestic carabid diversity in a Celtis tala Guillies ex Planch forest, at Laguna Nahuel Rucá, Mar Chiquita district. A species inventory and the comparison of the seasonal variation of cumulative species richness, as well as community structure and functional groups were carried out. During one year (March 2008-March 2009), 2588 carabids belonging to 63 species were collected, representing the 84%-93% of the estimated richness. Cumulative species richness during spring and summer was higher than in autumn and winter (p<0.05). Two species, Argutoridius bonariensis (Dejean) and Pachymorphus striatulus (Fabricius), represented a total of 47% of captures and were dominant in all seasons. Concerning trophic guilds, zoophagous represented more than 50% of the assemblage in all seasons, while phytophagous and omnivorous remained at low percentages in autumn-winter (<10%); the former reached a peak in spring (20%), and the latter in summer (34%). Regarding humidity affinities, mesophilous species conformed more than 70% of the assemblage and hygrophilous and xerophilous reached less than 20%. We discuss the probable causes of such higher carabid diversity wandering through the talar stand and their simplified surroundings, as well as the influence that these factors exert on composition and structure of the ground beetle assemblage.

Keywords : Carabids; Celtis tala; Biodiversity; South America.

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