ground beetle pic

[Galapoheros]

For me, a rarely seen sps of ground beetle, around here anyway, I just don't come across this one much and don't know the species.

 

[beetleman]

very nice!it may be chlaenius sp. they come in the most awesome colors too. beautiful beetle,excellent find.

 

[Athelas]

Or maybe Carabus sp? But I'm not sure the elytron looks right...

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[Bugs In Cyberspace]

Dicaelus sp.

I know somebody who has fairly regular access to these, but unfortunately so few people in this country care about beetles. This is sad because beetles can be very entertaining pets compared with other, shall we say, subterranean pets.

 

[Galapoheros]

Please, BIC, anybody else, what do these eat? Are they more specialized eaters that other ground beetles. I don't see it eat moths, roaches, wounded crickets, ...or is it just not eating? I googled, didn't see anything about it but I didn't spend a lot of time looking either.

I read that it might be a snail eater(?) That might explain the elongated head to reach into the shell if that's the case. Well, it's not that elongated but kind of small, dahhh, don't know.

 

[Deroplatys]

A lot of beetles like snails, wont hurt to chuck a couple of small ones in

 

[beetleman]

Dicaelus sp.

I know somebody who has fairly regular access to these, but unfortunately so few people in this country care about beetles. This is sad because beetles can be very entertaining pets compared with other, shall we say, subterranean pets.

that's it! i got mixed up with the other sp. ive kept them before,the purple color on these are amazing,they burrowed alot,i gave mine waxworms,mealworms,since they burrow also the beetles would consume them under the soil. the beetles like it semimiost aswell. yeah beetles are amazing insects:clap: so underated,but i'm glad we have some beetle admirers here

 

[zonbonzovi]

I've had a lot of trouble keeping the snail eaters alive. They're extremely messy eaters & high moisture levels vs. ventilation is a bear. Slugs seemed to disappear faster than snails, but the gelatinous leftovers were annoying. Most frustrating was watching snails thrive while their predator brethren struggled to survive/wouldn't eat.

 

[Galapoheros]

Well def a snail eater, it just finished one off.

 

[beetleman]

I've had a lot of trouble keeping the snail eaters alive. They're extremely messy eaters & high moisture levels vs. ventilation is a bear. Slugs seemed to disappear faster than snails, but the gelatinous leftovers were annoying. Most frustrating was watching snails thrive while their predator brethren struggled to survive/wouldn't eat.

i'm thinking maybe the snaileaters(scaph sp.) will take earthworms,that's what i was planning on trying when i get some,i wonder if they will take waxworms/mealworms,experimenting....always fun. i could imagine the messy slime from their meals.............hmmm :barf: ahh,i still love em

---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:15 PM ----------

Well def a snail eater, it just finished one off.

thats awesome, you know the fish markets sell frozen snails(periwinkles) no slime to deal with,but ya gotta thaw them out.

 

[Galapoheros]

This one did a pretty good job.

It used it's jaws to spiral down, breaking the shell as went.

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

Galopoheros,

You're totally one of my favorite posters on this forum. That snail account is fantastic! An uncommonly discussed species and a natural history/captive account. I love it!

ZBZ mentioned Scaphinotus. I took this photo on the last Quinault trip that you missed out on, last Fall (another coming up in mid-March, btw). They're group-feeding on trail-trampled banana slugs. (none of the photos I took came out that clearly, sorry).

Your beetle is about an inch long, Galapoheros?

 

[Galapoheros]

why thanya, thankya very muuuch. So many interesting things out there. You know what I think makes people oblivious to these kinds of things? ....size. I know it sounds simple but people have this issue with size and seeing what's going on, trivializing organisms that are little/small, it's something most people ignore, they think this way, for whatever reason. Today I was thinking of some kind of macro terr cam that could be controlled to track smaller inverts through a computer, to watch them on a big monitor. People are discovering that nervous systems and size are relative. Just because something is small doesn't mean it has less light going on upstairs, haha, there's a better way to say it:confused. Yeah it's about an inch long, I've been hoping a mated female out of curiosity. The odds of finding another one aren't good around here.

 

[H. laoticus]

It's hard for me to believe that other insects would eat snails and slugs, but those pics proved it lol. The next time I do a pit fall trap and catch some beetles I'll post it for you guys And yes, Galapoheros is the man!

 

[bluefrogtat2]

great thread,and agree galapoheros is one of the more informative posters and great to deal with too.
i have recently become addicted to america's beetles,this one is very intriguing.
great pics
andy

 

[moose35]

we love you Galapoheros



moose

 

[Galapoheros]

LOL, haha, I mean, LOL, no you don't anybody can find something weird when they have a lot of time on their hands like I do, sleeping til noon helps

 

[DITB]

i have fed Dicaelus waxworms