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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Species Calosoma externum - Narrow Searcher

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Adephaga (Ground and Water Beetles)
Family Carabidae (Ground Beetles)
Subfamily Carabinae
Tribe Carabini
Genus Calosoma
Species externum (Narrow Searcher)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Callitropa externum
Size
24-35 mm
Identification
Black with margins of elytra and pronotum brilliant blue. Elytra with evenly-spaced rows of punctured grooves (striae) and a few large punctures (foveae). Very large, up to 35 mm long. Pronotum rounded, not flared out on the apical (head) end.

Resembles Carabus sylvosus, which is smaller, and has a differently-shaped pronotum--more flared on the apical end.
Habitat
Woodlands and adjacent open country
Season
June-September. Reported May and July-August (North Carolina), May and September-October (South Carolina).
Food
Adults predatory, climb trees in search of prey, esp. caterpillars.
Life Cycle
Adults overwinter (hibernate).
See Also
Some Carabus, for example, Carabus sylvosus, have a similar black/blue pattern
Print References
Arnett, p. 75, fig. 198 (2)
Ciegler, p. 27 (3)
Brimley, p. 116 (4)
Internet References
Ground Beetles of Canada--image of specimen
On the checklist of Carabids at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Michigan specimen--Univ. Michigan
Common in the NCSU Entomology Collection, with 50 pinned.
Works Cited
1.Introduction to North American Beetles
By Charles S. Papp
2.How to Know the Beetles
By Ross H. Arnett, N. M. Downie, H. E. Jaques
3.Ground Beetles and Wrinkled Bark Beetles of South Carolina
By Janet Ciegler
4.Insects of North Carolina
By C.S. Brimley