Species diversity of Carabidae (Coleoptera) in fruit orchards and rice fields of Mazandaran province, northern Iran

The ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are powerful predators and have important role in biological control of agricultural pests. The fauna of these beneficial insects was studied in fruit orchards and rice fields of Mazandaran province during 2015-2016. In total, 22 species within 16 genera and 10 subfamilies were identified in different regions of Mazandaran. The samplings indicated that the highest species diversity was observed in Amol and Qaemshahr, and the lowest species diversity in Babolsar; also the highest population density was observed in Qaemshahr and Behshahr, and the lowest one in Babolsar and Noor regions. Among the studied species, Harpalus griseus (Panzer, 1797) had the highest distribution and Acinopus megacephalus (Rossi, 1794), Bembidion menetriesi Kolenati, 1845, Carabus roseni Reitter, 1897, Chlaenius steveni Quensel, 1806 and Calosoma maderae dsungaricum Gebler, 1833 the lowest one. Also, the highest population density was obtained for H. griseus and Harpalus fuscicornis Menetries, 1832 and the lowest one for A. megacephalus, B. menetriesi, C. steveni, Cicindela rhodoterena Tschitschherine, 1903, C. maderae dsungaricum and Zabrus spectabilis Hampe, 1852, respectively. The results indicate that Harpalus griseus and Harpalus fuscicornis are the dominant species in the most sampled regions of Mazandaran province.