Beetles in the food of the tawny owl, Strix aluco (L.) in the Kharkov Region (Ukraine) (Insecta, Coleoptera) By Zdenek Kletecka & Igor A. Prisada Kletecka Z. & I. A. Prisada (1993): Beetles in the food of the tawny owl, Strix aluco (L.) in the Kharkov Region (Ukraine) (Insecta, Coleoptera). -Spixiana 16/3: 227-232 Pellets were collected under the nests of Strix aluco in the Severskij Donec National Park in Kharkov Region in 1979-1982, and they were analysed. Remnants of 81 beetles of 14 species were found in 57 of 675 pellets of Strix aluco. Crepuscular beetles (88,9 %) prevailed over nocturnal ones (4,9 %). Large species (over 16 mm) made up 92,6 % of the diet of the tawny owls which prey more upon flying beetles than on running ones. During their outbreaks, the genera Melolontha and Potyphylla can form a substantial part of the diet of these owls. Zdenek Kletecka, Department of Natural History, South Bohemian Museum, Dukelskä I, 37051 Ceske Budejovice, Czech republik. Igor Alexejevich Prisada, Ukranian Scientific Research Institute of Forestry, 310 024 Kharkov, Ukraine. Introduction The tawny owl (Strix aluco (L.)) feeds on various animals including nocturnal insects. Pellets regurgitated by the owls mainly consist of sclerotized parts of the bodies of beetles. Utterndörfer (1952), studying the food of the tawny owls in Germany, analysed their stomach contents and reported 62,14 % mammals, 10,5 % birds, 0,1 % reptiles, 10,7 % amphibians, 0,6 % fishes and 16 % insects. Wendand (1963) State 6,29 % insects in Berlin. Sweenke (1972) reported 12,3 % insects in Netherlands, higher representation of insects is reported by Hendry & Perthis (1986) 36,9 % in food of Strix aluco form France. Similar food composition of Strix aluco is given by Schnurze (1961) and Haenzel & Walther (1966). Bohäc (1963) reported 8 (i.e. 11,6 %) insect specimens -1 Melolontha sp., 2 Geotrupes sp., 1 carabid, 2 elaterids and 2 unidentified specimens. Hell (1964) reported 4,26 % insects (3 specimens of Melolontha melolontha (L.) and 1 unidentified specimen). Obuch (1983) found 30,8 % insects in food of the tawny owl in the territory of Velkä Fatra mountains and in another study (Obuch (1984/85)) he found 340 Coleoptera, which correspond to frequency of 3,43 %. Plesnik et Dusik (1986) State 2,33 % frequency, which is 20 specimens of beetles and 1 (0,12 %) specimen of Orthoptera in food of Strix aluco. Stanel (1978) stated 16,4 % insects in east Bohemia. Material and methods We studied the food of Strix aluco in the Severskij Donec National Park in the Zmijev District of the Kharkov Region, the Ukraine, USSR, in an area along the middle part of the Severskij Donec river near the villages Gaidary, Zadoneckoe, Koropov Khutor, Velyka Homolsha and the town Zmijev. An oak wood with other deciduous trees Stands on the right bank of the Severskij Donec and an inundation forest on the left bank where there is also a pine wood higher up on a second sand terrace. The altitude ranges between 83 and 193 m a.s.l. 227
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