Study

Increasing the availability of food and the reproduction of Poecilus cupreus in a cereal field by strip-management

  • Published source details Zangger A., Lys J.A. & Nentwig W. (1994) Increasing the availability of food and the reproduction of Poecilus cupreus in a cereal field by strip-management. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 71, 111-120.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips

Action Link
Farmland Conservation
  1. Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips

    A replicated, controlled study from April to July 1991 in Switzerland in one winter rye field (Zangger et al. 1994) found enhanced feeding and reproductive conditions for the ground beetle Poecilus cupreus (Carabidae) in sown wildflower strips and cereal strips adjacent to wildflower strips, than in a cereal control area in the same field. Male P. cupreus (and females in early season only) had generally higher crop-fullness and satiation in the wildflower strip-managed area than in the control area, indicating higher food availability. Females in the wildflower and cereal strips were generally larger and heavier, and had more ripe eggs in their ovaries (except in May), than females in the control area. Ground beetles were sampled weekly using five pitfall traps (diameter 7 cm) in each of the three habitats (wildflower strip, cereal strip and cereal control area). Captured beetles were dissected to analyse different size and reproductive measures and gut contents. This study was performed within the same experimental site as Nentwig 1989, Lys & Nentwig 1992, Lys & Nentwig 1994, Lys et al. 1994.

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