Vertical and seasonal distribution of flying beetles in a suburban temperate deciduous forest collected by water pan trap

Abstract Vertical and seasonal distributions of flying beetles were investigated in a suburban temperate deciduous forest in Kanazawa, Japan using water pan traps to determine the abundance and composition among vertical strata, change in the abundance and composition through seasons and determinant factors in generating the distributions. Traps were placed at three levels (0.5 m, 10 m, and 20 m above ground) on a tower. Samplings were carried out seasonally from May to November in 1999 and 2000. Variations in the abundance of flying beetles were observed from different layers. The results showed that the abundance and composition of flying beetles varied among strata and seasons. In both 1999 and 2000, Elateridae was consistently most abundant in the bottom layer, while Attelabidae and Cantharidae were most abundant in the upper layer. In 1999, Eucnemidae and overall scavengers were most abundance in the bottom layer, but results were not consistent with those in 2000. In general, the abundance of herbivores reaches a peak in the early season (May/June) and decreases in the following months. Peaks of abundance in predators vary vertically. In the bottom layer a peak was observed in the early season (May/June), while in the upper layer this was observed in July. Scavengers had two peaks, in May/June and September. These patterns indicated that vertical distributions in the abundance of different feeding guilds varied through seasons.