Spatial and seasonal organisation of a darkling beetle (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) community inhabiting a Mediterranean coastal dune system

Darkling beetle communities were studied on the coastal dune system which b orders a protected area (Castelporziano Presidential Estate) along the Tyrr henian Sea. Monthly samplings were conducted in three plant associations al ong a transect from the seaward slope of the dune to the innermost one. Wit hin a bulk of common species found in all three plant associations, some of them showed quantitative differences at the habitat level. Most species sh owed similar phenology with a summer drop, only one being a temporal specia list solely active in summer. As a whole, plant cover seems to influence sp ecies abundance, while phenology is probably moulded by climatic changes li ke late summer rainfalls.