Classification Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Adephaga
Family: Carabidae (ground beetles)
Geographic Range – The ground beetle is a large family and 40,000 species can be found throughout the world. 2,000 of these species are found in North American and 2,700 of these species are found in Europe.
Habitat – The general habitat of a ground beetle is under tree bark, under logs, and among rocks and sand by the edge of water.
Development - Like most other beetles, ground beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis with four stages of development. They are the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The entire cycle, from egg to reaching reproduction, takes a full year.
Ground beetles usually lay their eggs on the surface of the soil, or cover their eggs with soil. In general, eggs take up to a week to hatch. Larvae go through 2-4 instars before reaching the pupa stage.
They breed in the spring typically overwinter as adults. Carabids that breed during the summer months tend to overwinter as larvae and finish their development to adults in the spring. http://insects.about.com/
Physical Description - The best way to get to know the ground beetles is to observe them up close. Because most are nocturnal, you can usually find them hiding during the day. Most ground beetles are black and shiny, though some have metallic colors. In many Carabids, the elytra are grooved. The ground beetle's hind legs extend backwards over the first abdominal segment. Threadlike antennae emerge from between the eyes and the jaws of the ground beetle. The pronotum is always wider than the area of the head where the eyes are.
Reproduction: Mating Systems – Ground beetles reproduce sexually. Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilize the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Lifespan – General life-span for a ground beetle can be two to four years.
Behavior – The ground beetle is a solitary species. They are usually nocturnal and hunt for their food during the night.
Food Habits - Most carabids are omnivorous and polyphagous (being able to use a wide range of foods), feeding on live prey, carrion, and plant material. Some species however are specialist feeders such as the Harpalus rufipes, the Strawberry Seed Beetle, which feeds on seeds. May Carabids find their food by random foraging, but specialist feeders tend to use chemical cues. Pterostichus cupreus has a two dimensional search pattern until it finds an aphid at the base of a plant. Finding the aphid stimulates it to a three dimensional search pattern. It then climbs the plant looking for more aphids. Most species of Ground beetles are cannibalistic given the opportunity. Abax parallelopipedus is unusual in that it is not cannibalistic it can often be found under rotten logs in woodlands.
Predation – The suborder adephaga have paired glands in the lower back of the abdomen. They are well developed in ground beetles and produce noxious secretions used to deter predators. In some, commonly known as bombardier beetles, these secretions are mixed with compounds and ejected by a small combustion. They produce a loud popping sound and a cloud of hot and acrid gas that can injure small mammals like shrews, and is liable to kill invertebrate predators. To humans, getting "bombed" by a bombardier beetle is a decidedly unpleasant experience.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive – Most ground beetles are predators of invertebrate pest such as the caterpillar. Calosoma, caterpillar hunters, eat caterpillars and were even shipped to New England for biological control of the gypsy moth.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative – A few species of ground beetles have a negative impact on humans. Zabrus, one of few herbivorous ground beetles, cause damage to grain crops. Other species, such as Caribinae, can secrete poisons that will harm humans.
www.wikipedia.org, http://insects.about.com/
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Adephaga
Family: Carabidae (ground beetles)
Geographic Range – The ground beetle is a large family and 40,000 species can be found throughout the world. 2,000 of these species are found in North American and 2,700 of these species are found in Europe.
Habitat – The general habitat of a ground beetle is under tree bark, under logs, and among rocks and sand by the edge of water.
Development - Like most other beetles, ground beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis with four stages of development. They are the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The entire cycle, from egg to reaching reproduction, takes a full year.
Ground beetles usually lay their eggs on the surface of the soil, or cover their eggs with soil. In general, eggs take up to a week to hatch. Larvae go through 2-4 instars before reaching the pupa stage.
They breed in the spring typically overwinter as adults. Carabids that breed during the summer months tend to overwinter as larvae and finish their development to adults in the spring. http://insects.about.com/
Physical Description - The best way to get to know the ground beetles is to observe them up close. Because most are nocturnal, you can usually find them hiding during the day. Most ground beetles are black and shiny, though some have metallic colors. In many Carabids, the elytra are grooved. The ground beetle's hind legs extend backwards over the first abdominal segment. Threadlike antennae emerge from between the eyes and the jaws of the ground beetle. The pronotum is always wider than the area of the head where the eyes are.
Reproduction: Mating Systems – Ground beetles reproduce sexually. Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilize the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Lifespan – General life-span for a ground beetle can be two to four years.
Behavior – The ground beetle is a solitary species. They are usually nocturnal and hunt for their food during the night.
Food Habits - Most carabids are omnivorous and polyphagous (being able to use a wide range of foods), feeding on live prey, carrion, and plant material. Some species however are specialist feeders such as the Harpalus rufipes, the Strawberry Seed Beetle, which feeds on seeds. May Carabids find their food by random foraging, but specialist feeders tend to use chemical cues. Pterostichus cupreus has a two dimensional search pattern until it finds an aphid at the base of a plant. Finding the aphid stimulates it to a three dimensional search pattern. It then climbs the plant looking for more aphids. Most species of Ground beetles are cannibalistic given the opportunity. Abax parallelopipedus is unusual in that it is not cannibalistic it can often be found under rotten logs in woodlands.
Predation – The suborder adephaga have paired glands in the lower back of the abdomen. They are well developed in ground beetles and produce noxious secretions used to deter predators. In some, commonly known as bombardier beetles, these secretions are mixed with compounds and ejected by a small combustion. They produce a loud popping sound and a cloud of hot and acrid gas that can injure small mammals like shrews, and is liable to kill invertebrate predators. To humans, getting "bombed" by a bombardier beetle is a decidedly unpleasant experience.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive – Most ground beetles are predators of invertebrate pest such as the caterpillar. Calosoma, caterpillar hunters, eat caterpillars and were even shipped to New England for biological control of the gypsy moth.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative – A few species of ground beetles have a negative impact on humans. Zabrus, one of few herbivorous ground beetles, cause damage to grain crops. Other species, such as Caribinae, can secrete poisons that will harm humans.
www.wikipedia.org, http://insects.about.com/
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