Anaerobiosis in the Overwintering Beetle Pelophila borealis
Abstract
AT Finse, situated at 1,200 m above sea level in the mountain plateau of Hardangervidda, Norway, adult Pelophila borealis (Coleoptera, Carabidae) overwinter in the soil of a sedimentation flat1. During the winter the flat is periodically flooded by the adjacent river, and consequently covered by a layer of ice. Sixty to 120 cm of snow covers the ground from late September until early June. Soil temperatures at the beetle's overwintering sites are normally slightly below 0° C, but rarely drop below -3° to -4° C.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- October 1973
- DOI:
- 10.1038/245388a0
- Bibcode:
- 1973Natur.245..388C