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A method for rapidly mass laser-marking individually coded ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the field |
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| Authors: | Georgianne J. K. Griffiths Colin J. Alexander rew Birt John M. Holland Peter J. Kennedy Joe N. Perry Rick Preston Linton Winder |
| Affiliation: | Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth at Seale-Hayne, Newton Abbot, U.K.,;Plant and Insect Ecology Division, Rothamsted Research, Rothamsted, Harpenden, U.K.,;Syngenta, Ecological Sciences, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, U.K.,;The Game Conservancy Trust, Fordingbridge, U.K. and;Department of Biology, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji |
| Abstract: | Abstract. 1. A laser-marking technique is described that may be used to rapidly mass-mark and individually code insects in the field. In this study, ground beetles were marked but the method is applicable to a wide range of organisms with a hard exoskeleton or shell. 2. In a field-scale capture–recapture study conducted in winter wheat, 8266 beetles were coded. Individuals marked in the first week of the trial and recaptured 2 months later retained their codes, which were therefore considered permanent. 3. Assemblages were dominated numerically by Pterostichus cupreus , which formed more than 98% of the total captures. Of the 8046 released P. cupreus , 2269 were recaptured. As an illustration of the use of these data, the POPAN parameterisation of the Jolly–Seber model was used to estimate a whole-field population of 17 237 individuals, equating to a density of 0.46 beetles m |
| Keywords: | Laser mark marking Pterostichus cupreus recapture release |