Ground beetles; beneficial insects

A carabid ground beetle with recently dispatched prey.

If you see a large, black beetle scurrying somewhere, or inadvertedly uncover one while moving debris, leave it be.  My immediate tendency is to pick it up and have a good look at it.  I always appreciate their robust design.  Strong legs, large jaws, and a shiny black body gives the identification away.  Darkling beetles look similar but typically have a dull luster about them instead of being shiny.  Once my examination and appreciation of it is finished, I return it to where it was found.

Ground beetles are important predators of insect pests.  Those big jaws aren't for show; they are used for catching, dispatching, and tearing into prey.  And yes, they can bite you, although I have never been the victim of them.  Even the larvae are predaceous.  They also have strong jaws and ambitiously burrow through substrate or hide under it to hide.  They often come out from their lairs at night in their quest for prey.  Their secretive habits protect them from other predators what would happily snatch them up.  Birds, amphibians, reptiles, rodents, and other insects reddily take them.

World-wide, there are some 40,000 species of ground beetle.  North America boasts some 3,000 species; I read one report stating that approximately 400 species reside on the prairies.  Differentiating them can be quite a chore.  Some, such are the purple-rimmed carabid beetle, are easy to identify because of singular traits they possess (see my blog on one I photographed here).  Mostly, though, it is enough to just appreciate their amazing traits and their value as pest controllers.  I know that, whenever I find one, I do.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com