Canyon forest ground beetle
| Canyon forest ground beetle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canyon forest ground beetle ( Carabus irregularis ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Carabus irregularis | ||||||||||||
| Fabricius , 1792 |
The canyon forest ground beetle ( Carabus irregularis ) is a species of the real ground beetle ( Carabus ).
   Image 1: different views |
|
|
Image 2: Asymmetry of the upper jaw: the mandible on top in the picture is angular, the lower one is rounded |
features
The canyon forest ground beetle reaches a body length of 19 to 30 millimeters and is one of the largest species of beetle in Europe. The basic color of the beetle is copper-red to shiny reddish, the elytra, the pronotum and the wing edges can vary in color from green to red-violet. The pronotum is wider than it is long. The irregularly arranged point pits of the wing covers are colored red-gold or green. The elytra lie very flat on the body, the head is relatively large in relation to the pronotum and has large, asymmetrical mandibles (Fig. 2). The first two parts of the antennae are colored reddish.
From the closely related species Creutzer's ground beetle ( C. creutzeri ) and Fabricius' ground beetle ( C. fabricii ), this species can be distinguished primarily by details of the mouthparts.
distribution
The species occurs in Europe, except in Fennoscandia , the Netherlands and the British Isles . It is particularly widespread in the low mountain ranges and mountains over large parts of Central and Eastern Europe. You can find them from June to September.
Way of life
The canyon forest ground beetle is primarily native to mountain locations and is classified accordingly as alpine or montane . It is very closely tied to moist and undergrowth-rich beech forests with calcareous soil, especially the forests on the northern slopes. There you can find it in dead wood or under loose bark.
Like most ground beetles, the canyon forest ground beetle is a nocturnal predator that feeds primarily on snails and other insects and their larvae. The larvae are also predatory and develop on dead wood. The new generation hatches in autumn. The wintering often takes place in societies.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ^ Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica. The beetles of the German Empire. Stuttgart: KG Lutz, 1908; Volume 1, Page 80 ( full text edition )
literature
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Ralph Platen, Dieter Barndt: Ground beetles - observation, way of life . Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-125-7 .
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
