The ground beetle tribe Platynini Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the southern Levant: dichotomous and interactive identification tools, ecological traits, and distribution.

The carabids of the tribe Platynini from the southern Levant (Egypt: Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Jordan) and adjacent regions of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia are reviewed in terms of species taxonomy, ecological, distributional traits, and conservation biology. In addition to a classical dichotomous identification key to the 14 species of the region, identification tools are made freely available via the Xper3 knowledge database "Platynini, southern Levant". Besides an interactive identification key, a matrix with character states for the species and single access identification keys are available.

Poleward range expansion without a southern contraction in the ground beetle Agonum viridicupreum (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

We investigated the extent of poleward shifts in the distribution range of Agonum viridicupreum due to climate change in the western Palaearctic. Species' records were obtained from extensive literature sources as well as from collections, and consistent amateur entomologists' recordings. Within the general geographic range of the species, we analyzed in detail two parts of both, the northern and southern distribution range boundaries: (1 and 2) north-western Germany (leading or high-latitude edge), (3) Israel and (4) southern Italy (rear or low-latitude edge).

When to sample in an inaccessible landscape: a case study with carabids from the Allgäu (northern Alps) (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

While pitfall trapping is generally accepted as the standard method for sampling carabid beetles, this method has rarely been used in mountain ecosystems, mainly due to the high labour intensity it involves. As part of a research project in the German Alps, we investigated the phenologic appearance of adult carabid beetles in mountain ecosystems along with the consequences of possible reductions in sampling periods. Our results show that an early activity peak among carabids is predominant in mountain ecosystems.