Abstract.1There was little overlap in the species composition of carabid beetle assemblages sampled below 450 m and above 800 m on an altitude transect and the first axis of a DECORANA ordination was closely correlated with altitude (r11= 0.93,P<0.001), probably reflecting the differing temperature requirements of different species.2Life‐cycle strategies of two low‐altitude species, found predominantly below 600 m, and two species caught above 600 m a.s.l., have been determined, using mandible wear to identify whether the females breed in the calendar year that they emerge as adults or in the year following.3Nebria salinahas an annual cycle at 630 m.Pterostichus madidusandCalathus fuscipeswere both biennial at altitudes above 300 m although predominantly annual at low altitude.N.gyllenhaliwas biennial above 600 m and it is not known whether it is able to switch to an annual cycle at low altitude.4BothN.salinaandN.gyllenhaliceased activity soon after emergence, an adaptation which preserves their mandibles from wear.5At altitudes of 305 m and 430 m,P.madidusandC.fuscipesentered the breeding season with 33% and 56% reduction in mandible tip length, possibly reducing their reproductive output.6The necessity for relatively sharp mandibles on entry into the breeding season may restrict the capacity of carabids to respond to a temperature change by switching from annual to biennial cycles, and vice versa, adding support to the suggestion that carabids are more likely to respond to climate change by shifting distributions than by physiological adaptat