Geographic variation in functional and structural traits in ground beetles (the case study of Carabus aeruginosus F.-W., 1822)

We sampled beetles by pitfall traps at two sites of its area: Visimskiy Reserve ((58⁰N 61⁰E, Kirovgrad province, Russia, the western border of area) and Kemerovo city (54⁰N 81⁰E, Kemerovo province, Russia, the centre of area). At the first site birch and meadows plots were under study, at the second ‒ meadows and lawns in the residential and industrial zones and the dump in 25 km from the city. 2109 specimen were measured for six linear traits. Elytra parameters were similar at both regions studied, but another traits (pronotum and head) were significantly larger in the beetles from Reserve. Populations morphometric structure differed significantly at all sites studied. Factors “Province”, “Anthropogen”, “Biotope” and “Sex” affected beetles body size and structure of its populations. We conclude, that populations at the edge of the area can reproduce and survive successfully due to the mechanism that had been revealed earlier: either body size or the structure of the population change.