A chance field observation and pilot laboratory studies of predation of the New Zealand flatworm by the larvae and adults of carabid and staphylinid beetles.

摘要

A chance finding in an Edinburgh allotment was made of a stained carabid larva that had eaten the earthworm predator Artioposthia triangulata previously stained red and released into the allotment during a dispersal experiment. In a pilot laboratorystudy, the flatworm was eaten by larval and adult carabid and staphylinid beetles, whereas seven other carnivorous species from five arthropod families did not. In another feeding experiment a carabid and a staphylinid larva each ate several specimens of the flatworm and gained tissue weight over 14 days. The conclusion drawn from these preliminary studies and the field observation is that certain carabid and staphylinid beetles are potential predators of A. triangulata.