Vol. 77 2025

ARTICLES

Geographic Gradients in a Functional Trait: Variation in Body Size of the Ground Beetle Carabus granulatus Linnaeus (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Vladimír Langraf1*, Sergey Luzyanin2, Viktor Alexanov3, Teodora Teofilova4, Anatoliy Anciferov5, Katarzyna Szyszko-Podgórska6, Iraida Vorobyova7, Igor Solodovnikov8, Roman Gorbunov9,10 & Raisa Sukhodolskaya9,11,12

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*1Constantinethe Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia; E-mails: langrafvladimir@gmail.com
2Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo, Russia; E-mails: sl_luzyanin@mail.ru
3State Budgetary Institution of Kaluga Region Parks Directorate, Kaluga, Russia; E-mails: Victor_alex@list.ru
4Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria; E-mails: oberon_zoo@abv.bg
5Kostroma Museum-Reserve, Kostroma, Russia; E-mails: ancifer.ost@yandex.ru
6Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland; E-mails: katarzyna.podgorska@ios.edu.pl
7Mariy State University, Yoshkar-Ola. Russia; E-mails: vigir@mail.ru
8Educational establishment Vitebsk State P.M. Masherov University, Vitebsk, Belarus; E-mails: iasolodov@mail.ru
9,10Research Institute for Problems of Ecology and Mineral Wealth Use Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Kazan, Russia; E-mails: xobglor@gmail.com
10Nature Reserve Belogorye, Belgorod Province, Russia; E-mails: xobglor@gmail.com
11Kazan State Medical University, Kazan, Russia; E-mails: sukhodolskayaraisa@gmail.com
12Volga-Kama State Biosphere Reserve, Zelenodolsk District of Tatatrstan, Russia; E-mails: sukhodolskayaraisa@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.71424/azb77.4.002892

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Abstract

Bergmann’s rule, the tendency for sizes in birds and mammals to positively correlate with latitude, is considered one of the well-known biogeographical generalisations. However, the factors behind the manifestation of such clines are not entirely clear. We collected the ground beetle Carabus granulatus L. in large regions of Russia and abroad. The sample of beetles consisted of 8550 individuals, which we measured using five dimensional traits. The values of the features changed abruptly from region to region in the northward direction, and their variability did not always correlate. The most stable values were observed in pronotum length and width. Morphometric features were similar in Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Belarus. Towards Russia, this similarity disappeared. It can also be speculated that species with large geographic ranges are likely to experience considerable heterogeneity in the factors that influence body size, and that key factors that determine body size may not always operate along a latitudinal (or other geographic) cline but be spatially associated with patches within the species’ range.

Key words

Bergmann rule, body size variation, ground beetles, latitude gradient

How to Cite
Langraf V., Luzyanin S., Alexanov V., Teofilova T., Anatoliy A., Szyszko-Podgórska K., Iraida V., Igor S., Roman G., & Raisa. 2025. Geographic Gradients in a Functional Trait: Variation in Body Size of the Ground Beetle Carabus granulatus Linnaeus (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Acta zoologica bulgarica 77 (4): 421-430.

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