Calosoma inquisitor
Small dolls robber ( Calosoma inquisitor )
The little dolls robber ( Calosoma inquisitor ) is a beetle of the family of ground beetles ( Carabidae ).
Features
The beetles reach a body length of 13-22 millimeters. The body is copper-colored, sometimes it is also colored green on the sides of the pronotum and elytra. Rare specimens are black and have a coppery, green or blue sheen over the body. The finely longitudinally grooved elytra have the fourth, eighth and twelfth gap fine green dots that can be seen but only with magnification.
Subspecies
- Calosoma inquisitor cupreum
- Calosoma inquisitor inquisitor
Occurrence
The animals arrive in North Africa, Europe, north to southern Scandinavia and in Asia. They were introduced into North America for biological pest control. They live mainly in deciduous forests, from the plains to the mountains, but also occur in bushes and gardens. They are rare, but often to be found in places in some years.
Way of life
The adults feed on a wide variety of predatory insects and their larvae, especially caterpillars. You can fly well and are not just on the ground, but also in bushes and can be found on trees. With danger, drops the beetle and threatened by erecting the front body and the mandibles spread. The females lay from about 50 eggs. The resulting hatching larvae also feed on predatory and develop very quickly. They pupate in the soil. The beetles hatch in June, but still stay in diapause until the following spring in the ground.