Carabus smaragdinus is a large, flightless ground beetle from Korea, northern China, and the Russian Far East. It grows to about 1.2–1.8 in (30–45 mm) long, with a shiny metallic body that ranges from green to coppery red depending on the region. It is not found in the wild in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A slender, glossy beetle with long legs. The broad wing covers have lengthwise rows of small raised bumps, and the color varies from metallic green to reddish copper.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Forests
- Leaf litter on the forest floor
- Range
- Native to the southern Russian Far East, North and South Korea, and China from Inner Mongolia east to Jilin and south to Henan. Many regional subspecies have been named, several of them on Korean islands. It does not occur in North America.
Behavior
- Diet
- A predator of other small invertebrates, mostly insects, and also earthworms.
- Activity
- Adults are active from about May through September. They hide under leaf litter by day and come out at night, running quickly over the ground because they cannot fly.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Some recent works use the name Carabus monilifer for this species, because the name smaragdinus had already been given to a different beetle in 1812. It has also been placed in the genera Coptolabrus and Damaster.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.