Information on the locomotory activity of carabid beetles in their habitats has to date mostly been obtained by pitfall trapping or by telemetric methods (e.g. harmonic radar). However, both methods have certain shortcomings, such as the dependency on running activity in the case of pitfall traps or the restricted applicability for smaller species due to the weight of transponders (telemetric methods). Both pitfall trapping and telemetric methods allow only several observations per hour or day and, consequently, an estimation of merely the minimum distance covered. A continuous observation of a beetle in the field, however, can reveal important behavioural traits, such as feeding or mating and dependency on habitat characteristics ...