Field studies on the surface fauna of forests

In most handbooks on forest entomology much stress is laid on the importance of predatory arthropods in the soil as enemies for pupating noxious insects (ESCHERICH, 1923; GRAHAM, 1939). However, detailed investigations in the field on the significance of these predators are scarce. In Germany much work has been done on the biology and feeding habits of Carabus species (KERN, 1921; LENGERKEN, 1921; OERTEL, 1924; DELKESKAMP, 1930; KIRCHENER, 1927; JUNG, 1940) but these observations and experiments were mainly done under laboratory conditions. FORBES (1880, 1882) investigated the gut contents of many carabid species and concluded that about 1/3—1/4 of the food was of animal origin. VITÉ (1953) studied the significance of spiders in forests.