Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Chlaenius - Vivid Metallic Ground Beetles

Chlaenius emarginatus Ground beetle - Chlaenius aestivus Chlaenius orbus Horn - Chlaenius orbus - male Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle - Chlaenius laticollis - male Chlaenius tricolor  - Chlaenius tricolor - male - - Chlaenius sericeus Chlaenius emarginatus - female Chlaenius - Chlaenius aestivus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Adephaga
Family Carabidae (Ground Beetles)
Subfamily Harpalinae
Supertribe Pterostichitae
Tribe Chlaeniini
Genus Chlaenius (Vivid Metallic Ground Beetles)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Different subgeneric arrangements exist; the classification used here follows(1)
Explanation of Names
Chlaenius Bonelli 1810
Greek chlaen 'cloak' (refers to the dorsal pubescence)
Numbers
51 spp. in 10 subgenera in our area(1), >860 spp. in 58 subgenera total(2)
Size
8-23 mm
Identification
pronotum punctate; dorsum pubescent, often with vivid metallic coloration
key to NA species in(3)
key to 18 se. spp. in(4)
photos of 17 Canadian spp. here(5)
visual guide to species in the Chicago area:
Range
worldwide and across much of NA
Habitat
Usually moist areas, some semiaquatic
Food
Predatory
Life Cycle
Some species lay eggs in mud cells placed on the undersides of leaves or twigs. Cell morphology can be distinctive for a species. Presumably most species have one generation per year, with adults overwintering to breed in spring. Come to lights.
Remarks
smell foul when disturbed
Works Cited
1.Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico
Bousquet Y. 2012. ZooKeys 245: 1–1722.
2.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). 2000. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
3.A revision of the genus Chlaenius Bonelli (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in North America.
Bell, RT. 1960. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 1: 97-166.
4.Ground Beetles and Wrinkled Bark Beetles of South Carolina
Janet Ciegler. 2000. Clemson University.
5.The Ground Beetles of Canada