Experts shed light on the wonderful world of ground beetles

Dresden will become a place of pilgrimage for beetle experts from Germany and Austria this coming weekend. The conference of the Society for Applied Ground Beetle Science (Carabidology) aims to show how impressive, versatile and ecologically significant these beetles are. "They act as ideal bioindicators. They can be used to make environmental changes clearly visible," announced the Saxon State Foundation for Nature and the Environment - co-organizer of the conference.

Climate change and habitat loss are also on the agenda

The Dresden meeting will combine basic research with questions of nature conservation, biodiversity and landscape planning. Topics such as climate change, changes in land use, habitat loss and agriculture will also play an important role, according to a statement. Lectures and presentations are also planned. Among other things, the focus will be on how ground beetles react to changes in floodplains and what impact land management has on the size of populations.

Ground beetles belong to a species-rich family

Ground beetles are a species-rich family and mostly predatory beetles. They are considered beneficial insects in gardens and agricultural landscapes. The animals are mainly nocturnal and have long legs for fast locomotion. They feed on invertebrates such as snails, aphids, earthworms and larvae of other insects. According to the Landesstiftung, there are a good 1,100 species of ground beetle in Central Europe.