Ground beetle??

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luck
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:15 am

Ground beetle??

Post by luck »

Found this in my bath room.

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DonSten
Posts: 84
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:50 am

Re: Ground beetle??

Post by DonSten »

Hi Luck

I think what you've got is one of two species - either Pterostichus madidus or Pterostichus melanarius.
They are a similar size and both very common, but can be told apart by the shape of the pronotum (top surface of the thorax) - in madidus it is rounded, whereas melanarius is square at the hind corners and I think that is what it is, but I can't make out any detail. It helps to indicate size when posting anything like this, but I am guessing that the container is a coffee cup?

I get both of these in the house, and they rob the cat food - quite amusing watching a beetle dragging a piece of Whiskas out of the door.

Cheers
Don
luck
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:15 am

Re: Ground beetle??

Post by luck »

Thanks Don,

It's about 1cm in length. I was rather surprised to see a beetle of that size walking around the bathroom floor. So I put it in a cup to take a picture which works great for stopping it escaping but the macro lens on a £50 camera let me down.

Cheers

Luck
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