The structure of ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae) at fig fruit falls (Moraceae) in a terra firme rain forest near Manaus (Brazil)

Abstract

The carabid beetle assemblage found feeding on fig fruit falls at night was studied in a terra firme rain forest near Manaus (Amazonia) from July 1991 to August 1996. A total of 8926 carabid beetles were collected on 64 fruit falls from 10 fig species. The most abundant genus was Notiobia with eight species, N. pseudolimbipennis being the most abundant. The Notiobia species comprised 92% of all specimens collected and all feed on small fig seeds. Their species abundance patterns varied considerably between individual fruit falls and during the course of a single fruit fall. However, the species abundance patterns for all Notiobia at all observed fruit falls for each of the two commonest fig species (Ficus subapiculata, F. guianensis), as well as for fruit falls of the remaining fig species, were very similar. Through feeding and breeding experiments and observations of reproductive success by dissection of females, only two of the eight Notiobia species were found to be specialized fig seed feeders, being able to reproduce only on fig fruit falls. The remaining six species of this genus use fig fruit falls as alternate hosts or ‘stepping stones’ between fruit falls of their host trees, which are widely separated both in time and space.

Carabid beetle assemblages in three environments in the Araucaria humid forest of southern Brazil

“…Whilst spiders can be grouped in rather clear resource exploration guilds, Neotropical soil carabid species are virtually unknown in terms of resource use. For some groups, what seems to be important for functional distinction among species is: (1) division of prey, with relative specialisation (Straneo & Ball 1989;Erwin & Erwin 1976), (2) the inclusion of frugivory, Paarmann et al 2001), (3) shared exploration of environmental characteristics (Schreiner & Irmler 2009) and of the leaf litter (Loreau 1987), (4) differing biotic and abiotic requirements for reproduction (Thiele 1977). As a region of relatively low temperatures because of altitude (Jungblut & Pinto 1997), carabid beetles in the studied area can be expected to be sensitive to temperature and optimally use moments of resource increment, perhaps avoiding unfavourable situations.…”

“…Aspects of the Amazonian carabid guilds dynamics were also described by Paarmann et al (2001Paarmann et al ( , 2002.…”

Comunidade de Carabidae (Coleoptera) em manchas florestais no Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

“…Quanto ao hábito alimentar, podem ser onívoros ou predadores de sementes (BOOTH et al, 1990) e de frutos caídos (PAARMANN et al, 2001). Entretanto, a maioria das espécies -tanto as larvas quanto os adultos -é predadora de vários invertebrados (VARCHOLA & DUNN, 1999;LÖVEI & SUDERLAND, 1996), representando um importante grupo utilizado no manejo de pragas e no controle biológico (PAVUK et al, 1997).…”

“…Também são apresentados o número de espécies observado e o número de espécies esperado através do método de rarefação para 133 indivíduos. é bem conhecida (MOLNÁR et al, 2001;PAARMANN et al, 2001;LÖVEI & SUDERLAND, 1996), sendo as armadilhas de queda ideais para sua captura (Lindroth, 1974apud PAARMANN et al, 2001. Em contraste, na região tropical, carabídeos coletados por estas armadilhas registram elevada riqueza, porém são pouco abundantes (HAMMOND, 1990), isto porque apresentam distribuição gregária em resposta ao padrão de disponibilidade de recursos (PAARMANN et al, 2001).…”

“…é bem conhecida (MOLNÁR et al, 2001;PAARMANN et al, 2001;LÖVEI & SUDERLAND, 1996), sendo as armadilhas de queda ideais para sua captura (Lindroth, 1974apud PAARMANN et al, 2001. Em contraste, na região tropical, carabídeos coletados por estas armadilhas registram elevada riqueza, porém são pouco abundantes (HAMMOND, 1990), isto porque apresentam distribuição gregária em resposta ao padrão de disponibilidade de recursos (PAARMANN et al, 2001). Pheropsophus aequinoctialis exibiu uma distribuição gregária evidente, fato já observado por REICHARDT (1971), que afirma que esta espécie ocorre habitualmente em grandes agregações que permanecem durante o dia sob pedras e troncos caídos.…”