''Carabus intricatus'', the blue ground beetle, 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 ...

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 ...

. It is a large beetle ( in length), with a metallic purple or blue and roughly surfaced

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

; the second pair of wings (which are used by

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s for

flying Flying may refer to: * Flight, the process of flying * Aviation, the creation and operation of aircraft Music Albums * '' Flying (Cody Fry album)'', 2017 * ''Flying'' (Grammatrain album), 1997 * ''Flying'' (Jonathan Fagerlund album), 2008 * ...

) under the elytra are reduced. In Britain it was only recorded three times in the twenty years up to 1993 and was considered extinct there. But in 1994 it was found in a couple of places near

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

. ''Carabus intricatus'' are nocturnal carnivores that are mainly active in the spring and early summer. Tests have shown they prefer slugs from the genus ''

Limax ''Limax'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk family Limacidae. The generic name ''Limax'' literally means "slug". Some species, such as the leopard slug (''L. maximus''), are beneficial fo ...

'', especially ''

Limax marginatus ''Lehmannia marginata'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae. Sometimes classified in the genus ''Limax'', the species is distinct in its ecology, and its nearly transparent b ...

''. They were also found to have a taste for liver, dog food, and crabsticks. In the wild, the adults are found under bark on dead wood, and under rocks. It does not require ground vegetation, and likes damp, rotten, moss-covered wood. The beetles seem to be active throughout the year and a fully-grown larva has been found in summer. This specimen also ate slugs prior to

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

ting, and emerged as an adult some three weeks later. It is thought that it may take two years to complete its life cycle. The adults are very long-lived.

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1265900 intricatus Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1761 Near threatened animals Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus