Abundance of carabid ground beetles from pitfall trapping on farmland sites in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, 2022

14 habitat parcels (with habitat parcel defined as an area of the same habitat type and condition) were sampled from five landholdings in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Under the UK Habitat Classification system, these parcels were assessed to be five 'modified grassland' parcels, seven 'other neutral grassland' parcels and two 'arable field margin' parcels. Each parcel was sampled with between 3 and 9 pitfall traps, depending on size and hetereogeneity in August and September 2022. A total of 84 pitfall catches were collected across all sites, with each catch representing 28 trap-days, totalling 2352 trapping days. Pitfall traps were of 94mm diameter containing 100ml of water and polyethylene glycol, and were protected by a 35mm wire mesh screen. No external barriers were used. Captured carabid ground beetles were transferred to ethanol after each sample period, and subsequently identified to species level in the lab, using the taxonomy and characteristics in Luff, M. L. (2007; Handbooks for the identification of British insects: The Carabidae (ground beetles) of Britain and Ireland (Vol. 4, 2nd ed.). Royal Entomological Society.). Identification was carried out by two experienced entomologists, authors of the dataset, with a random subset of individuals cross checked by the other entomologist to ensure consistency.