ENY 3005 Family Identification

Coleoptera: Carabidae

 Common name: ground beetles

Identifying characteristics for the family Carabidae include:

• First abdominal sternite divided by hind coxae (suborder Adephaga)
• Head at eyes nearly always narrower than pronotum (cf Cicindelidae).
• Antennae threadlike, inserted between mandibles and eyes (cf Cicindelidae).
• Generally black and shiny with striate elytra, but sometimes metallic or colorful.

• Mostly nocturnal, secretive predators of other insects.
• Similar to Tenebrionidae, but Carabidae are in suborder Adephaga and have 5-5-5 tarsi.
• 2500 species in 151 genera and 44 tribes in North America; 18 tribes illustrated in White's Field Guide.

References:

• Pages 152-153 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 86-94 in R. E. White. 1983. A Field Guide to Beetles of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 368 p.
• Page 409 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 460 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.
• Page 188 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.

• Carabidae - Arizona Tree of Life
• Gordon's Ground Beetles
• Care of Ground Beetles
• Carabidae of Europe