''Anchomenus dorsalis'' is a species of

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it ...

in the subfamily

Platyninae Platyninae is a subfamily of ground beetles (family Carabidae). Genera The subfamily Platyninae contains about 250 genera organized into three tribes: ; Tribe Omphreini Ganglbauer, 1891 : '' Omphreus'' Dejean, 1828 ; Tribe Platynini Bonelli, ...

. It is found in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, West and Central

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Description

This beetle is bright green-blue and red-brown in color. The adults are 5.6–7.7 mm long, with females larger than males.

Biology

This beetle forms aggregations of several individuals, often with beetles of the genus ''

Brachinus ''Brachinus'' is a genus of ground beetle native to the Nearctic, Palearctic, the Near East and North Africa. Beetles in this genus are commonly referred to as bombardier beetles. The genus contains the following species: * ''Brachinus aabaab ...

''. When disturbed it releases a volatile that contains

undecane Undecane (also known as hendecane) is a liquid alkane hydrocarbon with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)9CH3. It is used as a mild sex attractant for various types of moths and cockroaches, and an alert signal for a variety of ants. It has 159 isomer ...

. Its coloration may be

aposematic Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

mimicry of the similarly colored ''Brachinus'' beetles it lives with, which emit a much more powerful antipredator volatile mix.

References

Platyninae Beetles of North Africa Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1763 Taxa named by Erik Pontoppidan {{Platyninae-stub