Order Coleoptera | Family Carabidae Scientific name Calosoma sycophanta Rank Species | |
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Similar Calosoma, Beetle, Insect, Ground beetle, Calosoma inquisitor | ||
Puppenr uber calosoma sycophanta
The Calosoma sycophanta or forest caterpillar hunter is a ground beetle belonging to the family Carabidae.
Contents
Der grosse puppenr uber calosoma sycophanta beim fressen calosoma feeding
Subspecies and varietas
Description
Calosoma sycophanta can reach a length of about 21–35 millimetres (0.83–1.38 in). This large ground beetle has characteristic metallic bright green elytra, while scutellum is metallic bluish. The head is black. These colors have iridescent shades that change (green, blue, bronze, copper, gold black) according to the direction and quality of light. Pronotum is transverse shaped, posteriorly sharply narrowed, wrinkled and punctured. Elytra are flattened with clearly visible punctures in the striae.
Behavior
This ground beetle is a voracious consumer of caterpillars (especially Lymantria dispar, Thaumetopoea processionea, Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Euproctis chrysorrhoea) during both its larval stage and as an adult.
As a predator the species has been researched for the effect of its predation upon the caterpillars with microsporidian pathogens, finding a preference for Vairimorpha disparis infected larva.
Distribution
This species is native to Europe. It is present in most European countries, in the East Palearctic ecozone, in the Nearctic ecozone, in the Near East and in North Africa. In 1905 it was imported to New England for control of the gypsy moth.