A comparative study of the morphology and life traits of Scottish ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

We test whether there is a significant correspondence between the morphology of ground beetles and their life traits, as measured with phylogenetic independent contrasts. Seven life traits of known functional importance, and the morphospace defined by 87 species of ground beetles occurring in Scottish agricultural land were investigated using two different systematic arrangements as an approximation to the phylogeny of the group. The morphospace was previously defined with the first three multivariate ordination axes of 13 quantitative measures of the shape of the body, hind legs, eyes and antennae, plus total length as a surrogate measurement of size. Results were found to be largely coherent irrespective of the classification used, demonstrating the robustness of the associations despite possible changes in the knowledge of the detailed phylogeny of the group. The first ordination axis of the morphospace was significantly related to diet, and the second to diel activity. When individual morphological measures were compared, diet of the adult was most significantly related with length of the hind legs. The variable most related with diel activity was the length of the antennae. Species with overwintering larvae and species with two year cycles were larger than species which either overwinter solely as adults or which always complete their development in one year.