Nocturnal Migration of Coleoptera: Carabidae in North China

Vertical-looking radar (VLR) has allowed long-term automatic monitoring of the altitudinal and temporal dynamics of high-flying insect populations. To investigate whether ground beetle, insect of Coleoptera, was capable of migrating and its migration pattern by taking advantages of capability of the VLR for long-term real-time automatic monitoring, the migration of Coleoptera ground beetle was investigated by setting up radar observation points, making long-term observation using the VLR and related supplementary equipment, and analyzing low altitude air current and large area circulating current in combination with the meteorological data. Information obtained in 2005 and 2006 showed that the seasonal activities of ground beetles traps of trap lamps were mainly from late June to late August, peak period was mainly in August, seasonal traps of high-altitude lamps and ground lamps were featured by sudden increase and sudden decrease; in peak period, the height of radar echo point could be as high as 600 m, while it was mainly below the height of 450 m; night activities mainly occurred from 20:00 to 22:00, in very few nights, radar echo could last until about 04:00, changes in numbers of ground beetles within the searchlights were consistent with radar echo intensity; ground beetle images were successfully trapped in the sweep nets carried by captive balloons at the height of 200 m. Some species of Carabidaes had some degrees of migration, thus providing the foundation for investigating the migration of Coleoptera insects.