Gold mine ground beetle
| Gold mine ground beetle | ||||||||||||
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Gold pit ground beetle ( Carabus hortensis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Carabus hortensis | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The gold pit ground beetle or garden ground beetle ( Carabus hortensis ) is a beetle from the family of ground beetles (Carabidae).
features
This approximately medium-sized representative of the genus Carabus reaches a body length of 22 to 30 mm. The oval to long oval, strongly arched wings are copper or bronze brown to black and finely striped. 7 finer stripes are formed between two primary stripes, so there are also quaternary intervals. The three rows of red, gold or green pits per wing, which interrupt the primary intervals, are striking. The wing edges are broadly curved and shiny green or coppery gold, blue or purple.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the gold mine ground beetle includes northern, central and eastern Europe, it is absent in Great Britain and the Netherlands as well as in southwest Europe and on the Mediterranean islands. In north-south direction, the distribution extends from Norway to northern Italy and southern Greece. Contrary to the specific epithet hortensis and the German name "garden beetle" derived from it, the gold mine ground beetle is a typical forest dweller and primarily inhabits light deciduous and mixed forests as well as parks and hedges. He prefers stony or gravel soils. The species occurs from the lowlands to the high mountains.
Way of life
The beetles can be found from April to October. They are nocturnal and eat insects, snails and fresh carrion. The overwintering takes place as a larva.
Systematics
The species was Carl Linnaeus in 1758 under the still valid scientific name first described . The genus Carabus is divided into various sub-genera . Carabus hortensis belongs to the subgenus Oreocarabus .
German-language name
Alfred Brehm falsely states in his popular scientific animal life that he is to be found "more often in fields than in gardens" and therefore considered the German name "garden ground beetle" to be inappropriate. Linné's pupil Johann Christian Fabricius gave him the scientific name Carabus gemmatus , which is not recognized today due to the priority rule . Brehm translated this name as “gemstone ground beetle” and thus alluded to the drawing of the wing covers, whose punctiform pits “ with their copper sheen stand out favorably like gemstones from the matt black background ”. These shiny metallic point pits on the wing panels led to the term gold mine ground beetle, which is most commonly used in German-language literature today.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Karl Mandl : The beetle fauna of Austria III. The Carabids of Austria, tribe Carabini, genus Carabus Linné. ( Online (PDF; 4.3 MB), accessed on July 18, 2010)
- ↑ Karl Mandl : The species of the genus Carabus L. in the Linz area and their further distribution in the other areas of Upper Austria ( online (PDF; 3.9 MB), accessed on July 18, 2010)
- ↑ Heinz Joy: Adephaga, 1. Carabidae . In: H. Freude, KW Harde, GA Lohse & B. Klausnitzer (eds.): Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. Volume 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1976, p. 43.
- ^ A b Alfred Brehm: Brehms Thierleben. General customer of the animal kingdom. Ninth Volume, Fourth Section: Invertebrates, First Volume: The Insects, Millipedes and Spiders. Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1884, p. 35 Text at zeno.org
literature
- Heinz Joy: Adephaga, 1. Carabidae . In: H. Freude, KW Harde, GA Lohse & B. Klausnitzer (eds.): Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. Volume 2 . Goecke & Evers, Krefeld 1976, p. 43.
- Jürgen Trautner, Katrin Geigenmüller and Bertram Diehl: ground beetles . German Youth Association for Nature Observation (DJN), Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-923376-06-5 : pp. 35–36.
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Ralph Platen and Dieter Barndt: Ground beetles - observation, way of life . Nature-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-894-40125-7 : S. 136-137.
Web links
- Carabus hortensis at Fauna Europaea
- Carabus hortensis Greatly enlarged picture of the species in beetles of the world