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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Adephaga » Ground Beetles (Carabidae) » Carabinae » Cychrini » Scaphinotus

Genus Scaphinotus

Snail-killer Carabid - Scaphinotus angusticollis Scaphinotus - Scaphinotus obliquus - female Scaphinotus (Scaphinotus) vandykei Roeschke - Scaphinotus vandykei Scaphinotus - Scaphinotus marginatus Scaphinotus - Scaphinotus angulatus Scaphinotus - angulatus?? - Scaphinotus angulatus Scaphinotus guyotii Leconte - Scaphinotus guyotii - male Scaphinotus, oak leaf litter - Scaphinotus
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 Cychrini
Genus Scaphinotus
Other Common Names
Snail Eaters, Boat-backed Ground Beetles
Explanation of Names
Scaphinotus Dejean 1826
Numbers
55 spp. in 9 subgenera total, all in our area(1)
Size
7‒33 mm, most 20‒25 mm
Identification
key to SC spp. in(2)
key to Mid-Atlantic species in(3)
Range
precinctive to NA(4)
Habitat
Mostly forests, though some species occur in open habitats. Many eastern species are regular climbers of trees at night. (5)
Season
May‒Nov (south), Jun‒Sep (north)
Food
snails, slugs
Life Cycle
Nocturnal. Eggs typically laid under debris late spring/early summer. Overwinters as larva or adult.
Works Cited
1.Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico
Bousquet Y. 2012. ZooKeys 245: 1–1722.
2.Ground Beetles and Wrinkled Bark Beetles of South Carolina
Janet Ciegler. 2000. Clemson University.
3.Illustrated Key and Photo Atlas of the Snail-eating Ground Beetles of the Genus Scaphinotus Dejean ...
C.W. Harden and F.G. Guarnieri. 2017. The Maryland Entomologist Vol 7, Num 1, pp16-34.
4.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.
5.A natural history of the ground-beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of America north of Mexico.
Larochelle and Larivière. 2003. Pensoft Publishers, Bulgaria. 584 pp.
Contributed by Cotinis on 1 November, 2004 - 6:48am
Additional contributions by Peter Messer, v belov, Thrasher
Last updated 28 May, 2024 - 6:52am

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