SEASONAL ACTIVITY, AGE STRUCTURE AND EGG-PRODUCTION OF THE GROUND BEETLE ANISODACTYLUS-SIGNATUS (CALEOPTERA, CARABIDAE) IN HUNGARY

The seasonal activity, age structure and reproduction of the ground be etle Anisodactylus signatus were studied in central and eastern Hungar y. A. signatus is a species with summer as well as winter larvae. Beet les showed two seasonal activity peaks: during mid-June, only ''old'' (overwintered) individuals were caught and this activity coincided wit h peak egg production; another activity peak occurred in mid-July, whe n more than 86% of the collected Individuals were ''young''. The activ ity period of old beetles was shorter in the eastern population. Egg n umbers in the ovaries were low (2-10 eggs/gravid female). No eggs were found in young adults, which suggests that females do not reproduce d uring their first adult year; in the subsequent season, they lay an es timated total of 15.6 eggs. Adults can live longer than one year.