Little doll robber
| Little doll robber | ||||||||||||
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Little doll robber ( Calosoma inquisitor ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Calosoma inquisitor | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The little pupa predator ( Calosoma inquisitor ) is a beetle from the family of ground beetles (Carabidae).
features
The beetles reach a body length of 13 to 22 millimeters. The body is copper-colored, sometimes it is also greenish in color on the sides of the pronotum and the wing panels. Specimens are rarely black and then have a coppery, green or blue sheen all over their bodies. The finely longitudinally grooved wings have fine green dots in the fourth, eighth and twelfth spaces, which can only be seen when enlarged.
Subspecies
- Calosoma inquisitor cupreum
- Calosoma inquisitor inquisitor
Occurrence
The animals occur in North Africa , Europe , north to south Scandinavia and in Asia . They were introduced in North America for biological pest control . They live mainly in deciduous forests , from the lowlands to the mountains, but also occur in bushes and gardens. They are rare, but often found in some years.
Way of life
The adults predatorily feed on a wide variety of insects and their larvae, especially butterfly caterpillars . They can fly well and can be found not only on the ground, but also in bushes and trees. In case of danger, the beetle drops and threatens by straightening its front body and spreading its mandibles . The females lay about 50 eggs. The larvae that hatch are also predatory and develop very quickly. They pupate in the ground. The beetles hatch in June, but remain in the ground in a diapause until next spring.
credentials
- ↑ a b Calosoma inquisitor. Fauna Europaea, accessed June 28, 2007 .
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung, Jarmila Hoberlandtova, Ivan Zpevak: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe , Parey Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Ralph Platen, Dieter Barndt: Ground beetles - observation, way of life , Naturbuch-Verlag Augsburg, 1995, ISBN 3-89440-125-7
