Calodromius bifasciatus and other Carabidae on 26 oak-trunks in a nature reserve in the Netherlands

Abstract. The discovery of Calodromius bifasciatus in the nature reserve ‘De Kaaistoep’, the Netherlands, initiated research on this and related carabid beetles between 2000 and 2006. During this period we investigated the trunks of 26 Pedunculate oaks, mainly during nightly observations, to learn more about arboricolous carabid species. We observed more than 3000 specimens of 24 carabid species. The majority of these species were Dromius s.l., however Calodromius bifasciatus dominated the dataset. Our data on phenology clearly show that Calodromius bifasciatus is mainly active in winter; it even copulates just above freezing point. Other interesting observations were made as well; for instance the presence of a small sphere at the end of the abdomen and their hiding behaviour at low temperatures. Subsequently, we obtained similar information about other tree dwelling carabid species. In this article we present an overview of all species observed on the trunks, after which we shall focus on the observations made on Calodromius bifasciatus.