S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 60. (Budapest, 1999)
FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK LX 1999 pp. 195-203 Biogeographical connections of the carabid fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Beregi-síkság to the Carpathians V. Ködöböcz and T. Magura Biogeographical connections of the carabid fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Beregi-síkság to the Carpathians — Carabid fauna of the Beregi-síkság and that of the foothills of the Carpathians were studied using pitfall traps. 4294 individuals belonging to 44 species were captured. Harpalus quadripunctatus Dejean, 1829 proved to be new for the fauna of the Great Hungarian Plain. We have also found some additional localities of Carabus intricatus Linnaeus, 1761, Leistus rufomarginatus (Duftschmid, 1812), Molops piceus (Panzer, 1793), Abax parallelus (Duftschmid, 1812), Amara ovata (Fabricius, 1792) and Cymindis cingulata Dejean, 1825 with only few records in the Great Hungarian Plain so far. Based on our earlier results and on the data of the newly captured carabids we demonstrated that the Beregi-síkság can be regarded as an area belonging to the fluctuation zone of the forest-inhabiting carabid populations of the Carpathians. The Kaszonyi-hegy (hill), the Nagybégányi-hegy (hill), the Beregszászi-hegy (hill), the Gúti-erdő (forest) and the Rafajnai-erdő (forest) can be regarded as refuges and potential dispersal centres of the forest-inhabiting carabid populations of the Carpathians. INTRODUCTION We have continued our previous survey of the carabid fauna in the Beregi-síkság (plain) (Magura et al. 1997). As a result of these studies, the carabid fauna of the Beregisíkság proved to be biogeographically quite unique (Magura et al. 1997). In 1997 we extended our sampling to the small, island-like volcanic hills of the Beregi-síkság [Kaszonyi-hegy (hill), Nagybégányi-hegy (hill) and Beregszászi-hegy (hill)] and to the foothills of the Carpathians, to obtain a more detailed exploration of the biogeographical relations of the Beregi-síkság. These foothills contacting the marginal area of the Great Hungarian Plain and the island-like hills of the Beregi-síkság belong to the inner volcanic range of the Carpathians. Due to the particular microclimatic conditions unique plant and animal communities can be found in these hills (Varga 1995). In our study we wanted to find answers to the following questions: (1) Do the forests of the Beregi-síkság function as a fluctuation zone for the forestinhabiting carabid populations of the Carpathians?
