Abstract
Ants and beetles sampled by pitfall trapping on a large grassland remnant near Melbourne, Victoria, are enumerated and discussed. Species richness of both groups differed little between grassy flat areas and more rocky knolls, or between early and late summer. Seasonal differences in abundance were found in both taxa: beetles were more abundant in early summer, and ants more abundant in late summer. Implications of such differences for rapid sampling of grassland insects in the region are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
The study was authorised through Parks Victoria, under Flora and Fauna permit no. 10003414, and we thank the Rangers in charge of Craigieburn Grasslands, Fiona Smith and Katrina Lovett, for facilitating this. We greatly appreciate also the interest of the Merri Creek Management Committee and the Friends of Merri Creek. We thank, particularly, Brian Bainbridge and Wendy Moore for their enthusiastic support. We appreciate comments from Michael Samways on an earlier draft of this paper.
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Gibson, L.A., New, T.R. Characterising insect diversity on Australia’s remnant native grasslands: ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and beetles (Coleoptera) at Craigieburn Grasslands Reserve, Victoria. J Insect Conserv 11, 409–413 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9051-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-9051-8