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Resampling a carrion beetle fauna after 40 years (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Silphinae, and Leiodidae, Cholevinae)
Menno Schilthuizen1,2,3,4, Teun van der Sterren5, Isabel Kersten5
1Taxon Expeditions B.V., Leiden, Netherlands Taxon Expeditions B.V. Leiden Netherlands.
Background:
From 29 May until 5 June 1982, the first author placed baited pitfall traps to sample the Staphylinidae, Silphinae and Leiodidae, Cholevinae (Coleoptera) fauna in a mixed forest in the Netherlands. Exactly 40 years later (29 May until 5 June 2022), as a project on insect declines with high school students at a nearby school, a resampling was carried out.
New Information:
We report the silphine and cholevine specimens recorded both in 1982 and 2022. We found that total species richness and biomass had not noticeably changed, but there were some distinct appearances and disappearances of species. In addition, the species abundance distribution has become more skewed in favour of locally common species, such as Sciodrepoideswatsoni and Fissocatopswesti. We discuss our results in the context of insect declines worldwide.
