ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY OF ADULT CARABIDAE IN FOUR SOYBEAN CROPPING SYSTEMS IN VIRGINIA

Carabidae (Coleoptera) were monitored from pitfall trap catches in four soybean cropping systems in Westmoreland Co., Virginia during the summer of 1982. Harpalus pensylvanicus DeGeer, Poecilus chalcites Say, Amara spp., and Agonum octopunctatum Fabricius were the most commonly encountered among the 39 species collected. These four species were more abundant in drill-planted and double-cropped soybean fields which were conservation tillage systems as compared to conventionally plowed fields. Significantly more species per field and more carabids per trap were found during June than in later summer months. The Shannon-Weaver diversity and Berger-Parker dominance indices showed no significant differences in species diversity among the cropping systems. The total number of carabids present in soybeans is more important in comparisons than either species number of species evenness.