Stability of consumption pattern in two seed eating carabid species

SPEGESTADDOCT INRA; Carabids can eat a substantial amount of seeds of weeds per day and are considered as credible biocontrol agents for the regulation of weeds in arable fields. Carabids species belong to either granivore, omnivore or carnivore trophic guilds and we expected each of these to have specific patterns of weed seed consumption and specific responses to biotic interactions. These differences will impact the total predation rate of a carabid community and may also explain why it is difficult to predict the efficiency of carabid biocontrol service. To test this expectation, we looked at the consumption pattern of two species of carabids species common in arable fields, one known a…