Red Data Book Carabidae species of the Urals and Western Siberia in the collection of the Museum of IPAE UB RAS

Study Extent

The Museum of IPAE UB RAS keeps collections of the Red Data Book ground beetles from an area exceeding 1.5 million square kilometres, and over a period exceeding 100 years. A total of 2250 samples (Carabidae specimens) were collected from six regions of Russia: 938 from Chelyabinsk region, 869 from Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, 327 from Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region, 108 from Sverdlovsk region, 7 from Tyumen region, and 1 from Kurgan region.

Sampling

Carabidae were mainly collected by hand and partially using pitfall traps. Unfortunately, more detailed information is not available from the labels.

Quality Control

Identification of Carabidae species was carried out by specialists of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPAE UB RAS) and cross-checked with reference collections of the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences (ZIN RAS).

Method steps

1. 1. Large insects such as carabid beetles can be discovered from a height of human growth and collected individually by hand. A good result is provided by turning over stones, woody debris, etc.
2. 2. Pitfall traps collect invertebrates which walk over the ground surface. These traps consist of suitable wide-mouthed containers sunk in the soil so their opening is flush with the ground surface. They can be used dry or with water and a squirt of detergent added. The detergent ensures that insects sink and drown rapidly when they fall into the trap.

General taxonomic coverage is 1 phylum, 1 class, 1 order, 1 family, 7 genera, 19 species of ground beetles.

1. Carabidae
   common name: ground beetles rank: family

Red Data Book Carabidae specimens were collected from six region of Russia with a total area exceeding 1.5 million square kilometres. The collection of ground beetles in the Chelyabinsk region was carried out in its mountain-forest (Ashinsky, Katav-Ivanovsky, Miass, Satkinsky, Verkhniy Ufaley, and Zlatoust districts), forest-steppe (Chebarkulsky, Chelyabinsk, Kaslinsky, Kyshtym, and Plast districts) and steppe (Kizilsky and Troitsky districts) parts. The mountain-forest part is dominated by mixed coniferous-deciduous forests; prevailing heights are 800–900 m above sea level; average annual temperature is about 0°C, and the precipitation average is 600–700 mm. Aspen-birch forests prevail in the forest-steppe part of a region; average annual temperature is 1°C, the precipitation average is 400–450 mm. The steppe part is the most arid: forb-feather-grass meadow steppes with an average annual temperature of 1.5°C, and an precipitation average of 350–400 mm. In the Sverdlovsk region, the collection of carabids is performed in its western mountainous (Artinsky, Karpinsk, Krasnoufimsky, Nizhneserginsky, Revda, and Severouralsk districts), eastern foothill (Kirovgrad, Prigorodny, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, and Yekaterinburg districts), and eastern plain (Alapaevsky, Kamensky, Rezhevskoy, and Verkhnesaldinsky districts) parts. The mountainous part of a region (prevailing heights range is 300–500 m a.s.l.) is dominated by mixed dark coniferous-deciduous forests (average annual temperature is -1.5°C, the precipitation average is 500–600 mm), foothill part is dominated by mixed coniferous-deciduous forests (0°C, and 450–500 mm respectively), plain part – by predominantly deciduous forests (0.5°C, and 350–400 mm respectively). Khanty-Mansi autonomous region was explored in its western mountainous (Berezovsky, Kondinsky, and Sovetsky districts) and eastern plain (Surgutsky district) parts. The mountainous part (the Subpolar Urals, the most elevated part of the Ural mountain ridge with prevailing heights of 1200–1500 m a.s.l.) is dominated by dark coniferous forests (the precipitation average is 500–550 mm), and pine forests prevail in the plain part (600–650 mm respectively); the average annual temperature is about -3°C for both parts of a region. In the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region, the Carabidae were collected in western mountainous (Priuralsky district) and eastern plain (Nadymsky and Yamalsky districts) parts. Prevailing heights of the mountainous part ranged from 800 to 1200 m a.s.l.; both part of the region dominated by forest-tundra and subarctic tundra; average annual temperatures ranged from -6°C in the south to -10°C in the north; the precipitation average is 500–700 mm. The Tyumen region is represented only by the Tyumen district, as well as the Kurgan region only by the Belozersky district. The landscape of both districts is flat, dominated by a forest-steppe with predominantly pine-birch forests; average annual temperatures is about 1°C; the precipitation averages are 450–500 mm and 350–400 mm for Tyumen and Kurgan districts respectively.