Food and feeding habits of the troglobitic carabid beetle \u3cem\u3eRhadine subterranea\u3c/em\u3e

Food and feeding habits of a population of the troglobitic carabid beetle Rhadine subterranea inhabiting Beck’s Ranch Cave, Williamson Co., Texas, were investigated. Observational and experimental data demonstrate that a primary food source of this beetle is the eggs of cave crickets (Ceuthophilus spp.). The beetles locate eggs by selective digging into substrata where cave crickets have oviposited. Chemoreception and mechanoreception are important in the location of oviposition sites