Effect of local and landscape factors on abundance of ground beetles and assessment of their role as biocontrol agents in the olive growing area of southeastern Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Designing biological control strategies for the olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae (Rossi)) by predators requires the study of their biology and effectiveness. In this work, we have studied the relationship between ground beetle activity density and local (soil condition) and landscape factors in the olive area of southeastern Madrid, as well as the efficiency of the most abundant species, Orthomus barbarus (Dejean) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) by functional response experiments. Also, O. barbarus has been described for the first time by molecular methods through the barcode gene COI. The two dominant species, O. barbarus and Pterostichus globosus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) showed different responses to landscape structure, but soil condition was more relevant than landscape structure for both species, and for activity density of ground beetles as a whole. P. globosus is more efficient than O. barbarus, and it is possible that in the study area other taxa are relevant as B. oleae predators.