Diversity, adaptation and coevolution in snail-feeding carabid beetles and land snails

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

To understand how the land snail fauna is related with the divergence of morphology related to snail feeding (macrocephalism vs. stenocephalism) in the subtribe Carabina, we conducted field studies in China, Korea, Armenia, and Morocco. In the inland region of China, especially, diverse snail-feeding Carabina species and land snails occur. Macrocephalic Carabina species occur in habitats harboring small-sized bradybaenid snails abundantly. In habitats where both macro- and stenocephalic Carabina species occur, the shell morphology of bradybaenid snails was markedly diversified, suggesting an adaptive radiation due to strong predation pressure from snail-feeding predators.