Carabid beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera) in meadows in Lombardia (Italy) lowland.

We analysed carabid beetle communities in five meadows in Lombardia (Italy) lowland. Carabids were collected using pitfall traps. We dealt with community composition and morphological traits of species and specimens (wing presence and body length) as indicators. Community composition and body length were not significantly different in the five meadows. The youngest meadow was similar to the others, but it had the lowest frequency of species and specimens without functional wings. This evidence suggests that four years are not enough for the community to reach an equilibrium being characterized by species with higher dispersal capacity, which may represent only the first colonizers.