Rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) of a large pristine peat bog in Belarus Lake District

Abstract

Species composition and diversity of the rove beetles were studied in main habitats of a large pristine peat bog in Belarus Lake District (North-Western Belarus). Very specific staphylinid assemblages were found. They were characterized by not high species richness and diversity. In these uneven assemblages, a very small number of species: Drusilla canaliculata (Fabricius, 1787), Philonthus cognatus Stephens, 1832, Staphylinus erythropterus Linnaeus, 1758, Ischnosoma splendidus (Gravenhorst, 1806) dominated, while the majority of recorded species were rare. Unlike other inhabitants of the moss layer among the highly abundant species of rove beetles, peat bog specialists were not found. The highest diversity and evenness had the rove beetles assemblages in open spaces. On the other hand, the differences in these assemblages were not high.