Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of moist hay meadows along the River San near the town of Rudnik in Central Poland

The species composition and structure of ground beetle communities of hay meadows along the River San were studied between 1991 and 1993 using Barber pitfall traps. Four study sites were set up in meadows belonging to private farms. 13088 individuals representing 58 species were captured, with a trapability per pitfall trap per day of 0.54. Pterostichus melanarius was the dominant species throughout the study. Ecologically, the prevailing forms were open-area species of the autumn developmental type, most of which were large zoophages. Euro-Siberian species were the dominant zoogeographical element. Among species captured was Zabrus tenebrioides, threatened with extinction in Germany, and Oodes helopioides, threatened with extinction in Poland.