''Calosoma sycophanta'', the forest caterpillar hunter, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

belonging to the family

Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan 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 is one of the 10 most species-rich animal ...

Subspecies and varietas

* ''Calosoma sycophanta var. severum'' Chaudoir, 1850 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. nigrocyaneum'' Letzner, 1850 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. marginatum'' Letzner, 1850 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. azureum'' Letzner, 1850 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. purpureoaureum'' Letzner, 1850 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. cupreum'' Letzner, 1850 * ''Callipara sycophanta rapax'' Motschoulsky, 1865 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. smaragdinum'' Rossi, 1882 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. habelmanni'' Schilsky, 1888 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. purpuripenne'' Reitter, 1891 * ''Calosoma sycophanta prasinum'' Lapouge, 1907 * ''Calosoma sycophanta var. lapougei'' Breuning, 1927 * ''Calosoma sycophanta nigrosuturale'' Jaquet, 1930 * ''Calosoma sycophanta nigroaeneum'' Polentz, 1937 Calosoma of the world
/ref>

Description

''Calosoma sycophanta'' can reach a length of about . This large

has characteristic metallic bright green elytra, while scutellum is metallic bluish. The head is black. These colours have iridescent shades that change (green, blue, bronze, copper, gold black) according to the direction and quality of light. Pronotum is transverse shaped, posteriorly sharply narrowed, wrinkled and punctured. Elytra are flattened with clearly visible punctures in the striae.

Behavior

This

is a voracious consumer of caterpillars (especially ''

Lymantria dispar ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of Lepidoptera, moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''Ly ...

'', ''

Thaumetopoea processionea The oak processionary (OPM) (''Thaumetopoea processionea'') is a moth whose caterpillars can be found in oak forests, where they feed on oak leaves, causing significant damage. They travel in nose-to-tail processions (hence their name), often arr ...

'', ''

Thaumetopoea pityocampa The pine processionary (''Thaumetopoea pityocampa'') is a moth of the subfamily Thaumetopoeinae in the family Notodontidae, known for the irritating hairs of its caterpillars, their processions, and the economic damage they cause in coniferous ...

'' and ''

Euproctis chrysorrhoea The brown-tail moth (''Euproctis chrysorrhoea'') is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is native to Europe, neighboring countries in Asia, and the north coast of Africa. Descriptions of outbreaks, i.e., large population increases of several years ...

'') during both its larval stage and as an adult.Ground Beetles
, Susan Mahr, University of Wisconsin–Madison] As a predator the species has been researched for the effect of its predation upon the caterpillars with microsporidian pathogens, finding a preference for ''

Vairimorpha disparis ''Vairimorpha'' is a genus of microsporidian parasites. Species include: * ''Nosema apis, Vairimorpha apis'' - a parasite of the honey bee, * ''Nosema ceranae, Vairimorpha ceranae'' - a parasite of the honey bee, * ''Vairimorpha cheracis'' - a ...

'' infected larva.

Distribution

This species is native to Europe. It is present in most European countries, in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

, in the

Nearctic realm The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

, in the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, and in

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 ...

.Fauna Europaea
/ref> In 1905 it was imported to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

for control of the

gypsy moth ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as '' L. d. dispar'' ...

Gallery

File:Carabidae - Calosoma sycophanta-001.jpg, Adult of ''Calosoma sycophanta'' preying on a caterpillar of ''

'' File:Calosoma sycophanta larva.jpg, ''Calosoma sycophanta'', larva File:Calosoma sycophanta larva eats Lymantria dispar larva.jpg, ''Calosoma sycophanta'' larva eating a ''

'' larva File:Calosoma sycophanta pupa.jpg, ''Calosoma sycophanta'', pupa

References

* * sycophanta Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Calosoma-stub