Data from: Experimental tests of habitat preferences in the Comal Springs dryopid beetle, <i>Stygoparnus comalensis</i>

Data accompany this publication: Pintar, MR. 2025. Experimental tests of habitat preferences in the Comal Springs dryopid beetle, <i>Stygoparnus comalensis</i>.<br>The federally endangered Comal Springs dryopid beetle (Coleoptera: Dryopidae) is endemic to three springs in central Texas. Improving our understanding of the biology of this species is necessary for making progress towards the goals of its protection. A series of experiments were conducted in captivity to empirically examine habitat preferences of <i>S. comalensis</i> while using a similar co-occurring species, <i>S. sexlineata</i>, for comparison. Experiments examined the responses to different types of physical habitat structure (wood, leaves, rocks), light, flow, presence of other beetles, and wood conditioning.本数据集配套于如下发表成果：Pintar, MR 2025年发表的《科马尔泉干甲（Stygoparnus comalensis）生境偏好的实验测试》。该联邦濒危物种科马尔泉干甲（鞘翅目Coleoptera：干甲科Dryopidae）为德克萨斯州中部三处泉眼的特有物种。深化对该物种生物学特性的认知，是推进其保护目标达成的必要前提。本研究在人工受控环境下开展了一系列实验，以同域分布的近缘物种S. sexlineata（Stygoparnus sexlineata）作为对照，实证探究S. comalensis的生境偏好。实验分别考察了受试甲虫对不同类型物理生境结构（木材、落叶、岩石）、光照条件、水流环境、异种甲虫共存情况以及木材预处理状态的响应。