Spatial distribution of epigeic beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera) in the "Yelnia" peat bog

Epigeic beetles were sampled from different habitats in the raised bog Yelnia, the largest in Central Europe. We found 83 species from 5 families. Peat bogs in the temperate zone form isolated and discrete patches of "tundra" and so are azonal or extrazonal ecosystems relative to the surroundings. A specific complex of species, which strongly differs from the beetle assemblages on nearby mineral soils, was found in the bog. All habitats on the Yelnia bog are characterised by low species diversity and the dominance of only a few carabid and staphylinid species. The beetle assemblages of the different habitats included 20-31 species. On a burned bog only 10 species were recorded. The numbers of Agonum ericeti, Pterostichus diligens and Drusila canaliculata were high in all habitats. Among these species, the main peat bog specialist is Agonum ericeti. Moreover such rare peat bog species as Carabus nitens, Dicheirotrichus cognatus, Bradycellus ruficollis, Gymnusa brevicornis, Ischnosoma bergrothi, Euaesthetus laeviusculus and Atheta arctica were also recorded. It can be stated that Yelnia is a huge European reserve of the tyrphobiontic and tyrphophilous beetle species. It is necessary to strengthen the international conservation status of this territory.