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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Adephaga » Ground Beetles (Carabidae) » Carabinae » Carabini » Caterpillar Hunter Beetles (Calosoma) » Subgenus Castrida (Calosoma Subgenus Castrida) » Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle (Calosoma sayi)

Species Calosoma sayi - Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited

Black Caterpillar Hunter - Calosoma sayi

Beetle Black Caterpillar Hunter - Calosoma sayi

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Adephaga

Family Carabidae (Ground Beetles)

Subfamily Carabinae

Tribe Carabini

Genus Calosoma (Caterpillar Hunter Beetles)

No Taxon (Subgenus Castrida)

Species sayi (Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

treated as C. alternans sayi in(1)

Explanation of Names

Calosoma sayi Dejean 1826

named sayi after Thomas Say

Size

25‒28 mm

Identification

Resembles C. calidum but larger (25‒28 mm vs. 16‒27 mm) and more southern in distribution.

Pronotum with setigerous puncture near hind angle; lateral raised bead of pronotum sharply defined for entire length ⇒ C. sayi

Pronotum without basal setigerous puncture but with usual lateral one at midline; lateral bead obscure, at least basally ⇒ C. externum, C. calidum

‒adapted from (2)

Range

e. US (NY‒FL to IA‒KS‒TX‒CA) to Guatemala; W. Indies(3)

Habitat

Deciduous forests, grasslands, cultivated land, beaches.

Food

Predatory on other insects, especially caterpillars

Life Cycle

Eggs laid singly in soil. Larvae live in soil and overwinter. Adults may live 2‒3 years.

Works Cited

1.	North American caterpillar hunters of the genera Calosoma and Callisthenes (Coleoptera, Carabidae) Gidaspow, T. 1959. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 116: 225-343.

2.	Ground Beetles and Wrinkled Bark Beetles of South Carolina Janet Ciegler. 2000. Clemson University.

3.	Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico Bousquet Y. 2012. ZooKeys 245: 1–1722.

Contributed by Cotinis on 26 March, 2004 - 11:29am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Peter Messer, v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 11 September, 2023 - 3:23pm

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