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Observations on the Distribution of Eleodes hispilabris (Say) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in Relation to Elevation and Temperature in the Rattlesnake Hills Author(s): W. H. Rickard Reviewed work(s): Source: American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 85, No. 2 (Apr., 1971), pp. 521-526 Published by: The University of Notre Dame Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2423776 . Accessed: 02/11/2011 10:52
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ROBINSON,

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W. 0., G. EDGINGTON AND N. C. BYERS. 1935. Chemical studies of infertilesoils derived from rocks high in magnesium and generally high in chromium and nickel. U.S. Dep. Agr. Tech. Bull. No. 471. RUSSELL, E. J. 1950. Soil conditions and plant growth, p. 483, Table 113. 8th edition. Lonamans, Green and Co., London. A. 1967. Food habits of the northern pocket gopher on VAUGHN, TERRY Natur., 78:176-179. shortgrassprairie. Amer. AMIidl. WHITTAKER, R. H. 1954a. The ecology of serpentine soils. Introduction. Ecology, 35:258-259. . 1954b. The vegetational response to serpentine soils. Ibid., 35:275288.
JOHN PROCTOR' AND KENNETH WHITTEN, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. Submitted 22 April 1970; accepted 23 October 1970. 1 Present address: Department of Botany, Universityof Liverpool, Liverpool, England.

Observations on the Distributionof Eleodes hispilabris (Say) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in Relation to Elevation and Temperaturein the Rattlesnake Hills1
ABSTRACT: The pitfall catch of Eleodes hispilabris, a common grounddwelling beetle, decreased with increasing altitude in the relativelyundisturbed stands of shrub-steppevegetationin the Rattlesnake Hills of southeasternWashington. The decrease in catch is attributed to cooler-temperature regimes associated with increasingelevation. INTRODUCTION

Eleodes hispilabris (Say) is one of the most conspicuous and widely distributedground-dwellingbeetles in the Rattlesnake Hills of southeasternWashington (Rickard, 1970). It is a long-lived insect which may spend 2-3 years in the soil in various stages of larval development before emerging as an adult (Wakeland, 1926). Adults.survive the cold wintermonthsby retreatinginto the soil throughcracks or rodent burrows. This investigationwas undertaken to determinethe relative abundance and seasonal occurrenceof E. hispilabrisalong an elevation and temperaturegradient ranging between 400 and 3500 ft (122-1067 m) in the Rattlesnake Hills. The informationwill be useful for the planning of future studies to elucidate the ecological roles of insectsin the shrub-stepperegion of Washington. Pitfall traps were used to catch ground-dwellingbeetles. Cans 4 inches in diameter and 6 inches tall were buried in the soil to serve as traps. Small holes were punched into the can bottom to allow water to percolate to the underlying soil. Traps were visited weekly fromMarch to December, 1967. Beetles trapped in the cans were removed and released alive near theirpoints of capture. Seven sites each with relatively undisturbed shrub-steppe plant communities were selected for trap placement along an elevational gradient ranging between 460 (140 m) and 3450 (1052 m) along the northeasterlyfacing slopes of the Rattlesnake Hills on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Hanford Reservation, 'This paper is based on work performedunder U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Contract AT (45-1) -1830.
METHODS EMPLOYED

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Benton Co., Wash. (Rickard, 1970). Each site had five traps arranged in a line with approximately3-m spacing between traps. Air temperatureswere recorded as weekly maximum and minimum values placed about 3 dm above the ground. The therusing U-type thermometers mometerswere mounted on wooden posts and shielded from the direct rays of the sun. Soil temperatureswere measured weekly at a depth of 6 dm using a insertedthrougha piece of thin-walled laboratorythermometer mercury-in-glass aluminum tubing of appropriate length. At this depth there is no discernible daily change in temperature.Air temperatureswere measured in 1967 during the same year as beetles were captured, but the soil temperaturereadings were made in 1968. Eleodes hispilabris was caught at every site along the elevational gradient (Fig. 1). However, the total catch decreased as elevation increased (Fig. 2). During the 39 weeks of observations, 134 trap catches were recorded at the lowest elevation and only seven at the highest elevation. Intermediate catches were recorded between the elevational extremes. E. hispilabris was caught at least once in 33 of the 39 weeks of study,for a frequencyof occurrence of 84% at the lowest elevation. At the highest elevation E. hispilabris occurred in the catch only 5 weeks for a frequencyof only 13 %.
4
4
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Fig. 1.-The abundance, number of individuals captured per week and seasonal distributionof the pitfall catch of Eleodes hispilabris along an elevational gradient in the, Rattlesnake Hills, southeastern Washington. The bars represent the total weekly catch at each elevation site. The total number of beetles caught during the entire 1967 season, the average weekly maximum air temperature, March through November, 1967 and the average weekly soil 1968 are indicated in the upper righttemperatureat 6 dm, March to mid-July, hand cornersof each elevational site

6 132027 3 1017 24 1 8 152229 5 12 1926 310 1724317 142128 5 111825 2 9 162330 6 13 2027 NOV. OCT. AUG. SEPT. JULY MAY JUNE MARCH APRIL

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Environmental temperatures undoubtedly play an important role in the physiological, reproductive and ecological processes of E. hispilabris. Soil temperatures pace the rate of larval growth,and development and air temperatures near the soil surface are importantduring the foragingand breeding movements of the adults. Daytime temperaturesnear the soil surfaces are intolerablyhot in summer and E. hispilabrisbecomes most active on the surface at night. However, when nighttimetemperaturesare low, as they are in late autumn and early spring, adults are most active during daylight hours. Clearly, the temperaturesmost critical to beetles are those within the soil profilefor larvae and on or near the soil surface for adults. The average weekly maximum air temperaturefrom 17 April to 27 November 1967 and the weekly average soil temperatureat 6 dm deep from 21 March to 15 July 1968 are shown in Figure 1. Seasonal distributionof maximum air temperaturesat the lowest and highestelevation sites are illustratedin Figure 3. The seasonal change in soil temperatures at these same sites is shown in warmer than the high Figure 4. Clearly the lower-elevationsite is consistently
100

80

60

40

20

1000

2000 ELEVATION (FEET)

3000

Fig. 2.-The frequencyof occurrence of Eleodes hisPilabrisin pitfallsduring a 39-week trappingseason, March throughNovember, 1967 along an elevational gradient in the Rattlesnake Hills
130

110

90

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50

3 1017241 81522295 1219263101724317 14212851118252 SEPT JULY AUG APRIL MAY JUNE

91623306 132027 OCT NOV

Fig. 3.-The seasonal distributionof weekly maximum air temperaturesat 460- and 3450-ft elevations in the Rattlesnake Hills during 1967

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460/

3450' k
0t

10

21 27 3 MAR.

10 17 24 1 APRIL

8 15 22 29 5 MAY

12 19 26 5 15 JUNE JULY

Fig. 4.-The weekly distribution soil temperatures(6 dm deep) in spring of and summerat 460- and 3450-ftelevations in the Rattlesnake Hills during 1968

130

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Fig. 5.-Bi-hourly changes in soil temperaturesat various soil depths during a midwinterand midsummerday 1968. The temperatureswere recorded at the 700-ftelevation level

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elevation site. Intermediate elevations had intermediatetemperaturevalues. The soil surface shows the widest daily and seasonal fluctuationsin temperature; but E. hispilabrisas larvae and as adults can move up or down within the soil profileand therebycan retreat deeply enough below the surface to dampen the amplitudes of daily and seasonal fluctuations.The bi-hourlyfluctuationsof soil temperatureat a location of 700 ft (213 m) in elevation at several different soil depths during a winter day in January and on a clear summer day in July are illustratedin Figure 5. In January,the temperatureat 6 dm deep was 44 F. This had increased to 79 F by mid-July.In January,the soil temperature6 dm deep was warmer than depths measured nearer the surface. However, during the span of a single day in midsummer,the surface soil (0.4 dm deep) was both cooler and warmer than the 6-dm depth. Clearly, the seasonal change in soil temperatureat the 6-dm depth is a gradual one that changed only 35 F over a period of 180 days. Detailed temperature data like these taken at different elevations could yield considerable insight as to the soil-temperatureextremes experienced during the life of an individual E. hispilabris. The changing temperatureregimes associated with the rise of elevation on the Rattlesnake Hills undoubtedly play an importantrole in the life cycle and ecological distributionof poikilothermicE. hispilabris,but other importantfactors in a general survey such as this one may not be recognized at all. Invertebrate predators could play an important role in the distribution of E. hispilabris. Wakeland (1926) mentions Calosoma as a possible predator on E. hispilabris. The scent of E. hispilabris offersa measure of protection from common vertebrate predators, although it does not effectively deter the grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster), a shrub-steppespecies of generallylow population density.It is also possible that the few beetles trapped at the higher elevation do not originate there but are simply migrantsfrom lower elevations. E. hispilabrisfeeds upon a varietyof plants, both green and dry (Wakeland, 1926). The vegetation along the elevational gradient changes in botanical composition (Rickard, 1970). However, there are many similarities. The shrub, Artemisia tridentata,and Poa secunda, an understory grass, both occur throughout the elevational gradient (Table 1). It seems unlikely that E. hispilabris relies upon a particular plant species for food. The conclusion is that E. hispilabrisis more importantto the fauna of low elevations than it is at higher elevations.
TABLE 1.-Distribution of importantplant taxa along an elevational transect in the Rattlesnake Hills

Taxa Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) Bitterbrush(Purshia tridentata) Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Agropyronspicatum) Idaho Fescue (Festuca Idahoensis) X +

460 X X X X

Elevation (ft) 530 630 925 2500 3100 3450 X X X X X X X X X X X X X + + + + + X X X X X X

Major contributor botanical composition to Minor contributor

REFERENCES

RICKARD,

W. H. 1971. The distributionof ground dwelling beetles in relation to vegetation,season and topographyin the Rattlesnake Hills. Northwest Sci. 44:107-113.

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C. 1926. False wireworms injurious to dry-farmedwheat and a method of combatting them. Agr. Exp. Sta., Univ. of Idaho, Moscow. 52 p.

W. H. RICKARD,Ecosystems Department, Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, Wash. Submitted 29 April 1970; accepted 13 May 1970.

Seasonal Distributionof Common Spiders in the North Carolina Piedmont'

ABSTRACT: The seasonal distributionof 33 common spiders of the North Carolina Piedmont is given. Spiders were captured throughout the year, although they were more abundant in the summer. There was more uniformity in the seasonal population level of the species of the ground layer than the species of the upper vegetational layers. Evidence is given for the ecological separation of related species.

The scientificliterature contains numerous reports on the seasonal distribution of one or two species, but similar investigations into a communityof related species of animals are few. The data presented here show the seasonal distribution for 33 of the most common spiders of the North Carolina Piedmont region. With respect to community ecology, the spiders are a particularly important group since they are all strictly carnivorous and will eat almost any soft-bodied organism of appropriate size. Consequently, their seasonal and vegetational distributionis unrestricted specialized food requirements. by Collections were made in 11 types of field and forestcommunitiescharacteristicof the North Carolina Piedmont as described by Oosting (1942). Specimens were taken over a 12%2-month period by using a sweeping net, Tullgren funnelsand pitfall traps. During the cold months (November-March) sampling was done once a month. The specific sampling techniques and collecting sites have been described in detail elsewhere (Berry, 1967). Figure 1 gives the monthly distributionof the immature and mature specimens of 33 common species. Figure 2 summarizes the seasonal values for 100 species selected at random from the 331 species taken by the three sampling methods. Values for each sampling method are shown independently,and a graph demonstrating the overall seasonal abundance for the spider communityis given. A complete list of species and the months in which they were collected is given elsewhere (Berry, 1970). DISCUSSION Although more abundant in summer than in winter, spiders were taken throughout the year with some species overwinteringas adults, others as immature or eggs. That is, each species has its own distinctivelife cycle. Figure 2 shows a considerable change in the seasonal population level of the combined spider assemblage, but the data in Figure 1 show that this change is due to variation in the population of each individual species and also to the appearance and disappearance of the species itself at different times during the year. Since no two species in Figure 1 are identical, it should be obvious that any collective descriptionof the seasonal distributionof all spiders is not in itselfparticularly meaningful. However, if this informationis coupled with data for size, class, 1This is a portion of a thesis submitted to the Duke University Graduate School in partial fulfillment the requirementsfor the Ph.D. degree. of

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