Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal families. They belong to the Adephaga. Members of the family are primarily carnivorous, but some members are phytophagous or omnivorous.
Harpalinae is a subfamily of ground beetles that contains more than 3,000 species in 4 tribes worldwide, according to the Carabcat Database. A rarely used common name for the subfamily is the harp beetles. The Harpalinae contain the most apomorphic ground beetles, displaying a wide range of forms and behaviors. Some are, rare among ground beetles, omnivores or even herbivores.
Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 1500 species and 225 genera of rhinoceros beetles are known.
Staphylinoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is a very large and diverse group with worldwide distribution.
Melolonthinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetles. It is a very diverse group; distributed over most of the world, it contains over 11,000 species in over 750 genera. Some authors include the scarab subfamilies Euchirinae and Pachypodinae as tribes in the Melolonthinae.
Calosoma sycophanta, the forest caterpillar hunter, is a species of ground beetle belonging to the family Carabidae.
Meloe is a genus of blister beetles commonly referred to as oil beetles. The name derives from their defensive strategy: when threatened by collectors or predators they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints. This fluid is bright orange and contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical compound. Wiping the chemical on skin can cause blistering and painful swelling of the skin. This defensive strategy is not exclusive to this genus; all meloids possess and exude cantharidin upon threat.
Nicrophorus vespilloides is a burying beetle described by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1783.
Calosoma is a genus of large ground beetles that occur primarily throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and are referred to as caterpillar hunters or caterpillar searchers. Many of the 167 species are largely or entirely black, but some have bright metallic coloration. They produce a foul-smelling spray from glands near the tip of the abdomen. They are recognizable due to their large thorax, which is almost the size of their abdomen and much wider than their head.
Calosoma auropunctatum, is a species of ground beetle. This species was previously classified as Calosome maderae ssp. auropunctatum. This species is found from Europe eastward to Anatolia, Central Asia and western China and Mongolia.
Calosoma inquisitor is a species of ground beetle. The species is found in northern Africa, Europe and East to Asia Minor, Iran and the Caucasus, with isolated populations in eastern Siberia and Japan.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 68 described genera and about 500 described species. The family is represented on all continents except Antarctica, and is most diverse at both the generic and species levels in the Old World tropics.
Alsophila pometaria, the fall cankerworm, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described in English by the KJV Bible [Joel 1:4]. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia west to Alberta, south to Colorado and California and zones of Spain
Calosoma investigator is a species of ground beetle belonging to the genus Calosoma and the subgenus Charmosta. The species is diffused in North-Eastern Europe and Siberia.
Acmaeops proteus is a species of the Lepturinae subfamily in the long-horned beetle family. This beetle is distributed in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Calosoma calidum is a species of ground beetle in the subfamily of Carabinae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It occurs throughout Canada and the northern and eastern parts of the United States. About 19mm to 27mm long, this beetle is black with rows of red or gold spots or pits on its elytra. It can be found in fields and disturbed habitats. Larvae and adults prey upon moth caterpillars.
Calosoma chinense is a species of ground beetle in the subfamily of Carabinae. It was described by William Kirby in 1819.
Calosoma sayi, also known as "Say's caterpillar hunter or "Black Caterpillar Hunter", is a species of ground beetle of the subfamily Carabinae. It was described by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean in 1826. A large, lustrous black beetle found throughout the United States, its habitat is fields and disturbed areas. About 25mm to 28mm long, its grooved elytra have rows of metallic dots or pits. Said pits are smaller than many Calosoma, and are ruby red. Both larvae and adults prey upon other larvae and pupae, specifically those of grubs, flies, and lepidoptera.
The milkweed leaf beetle is a species of beetle from the family Chrysomelidae.
