Elaphrus riparius

Little Sandpiper ( Elaphrus riparius )

The little sandpiper ( Elaphrus riparius ) is a beetle of the family of ground beetles ( Carabidae ).

Features

The beetles are 5.5 to 7 millimeters long. Your body has a bronze green color, the tarsi are colored metallic light green. The elytra bear four rows of violet colored pits. Between the first and second third of the elytra is located on the elytra each seam a mirror box. Seen from below the prothorax is hairy white.

Occurrence

The animals arrive in Europe from northern Spain prior to Scandinavia. They are missing in the far south. To the east extends their range through Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Central Asia to Kamchatka. They live in moist areas, especially at the edge of muddy waters on sparsely vegetated areas, but also on meadows and in lowland forests, from the plains to about 1,000 meters above sea level. You are in Central Europe, the most common species in the genus.

Way of life

The adults feed on small insects and their larvae. In case of danger they stridulate with the wing covers. The newly hatched beetles overwinter buried in the ground like most beetles.