Crimean ground beetle is one of the most beautiful and large predatory beetles. This is a separate species of the Carabidae family, which was described back in the 19th century by the famous entomologist Bonelli.
Appearance
The graceful ground beetle has a body on which the head, chest and oval-shaped abdomen clearly stand out. The length of the beetle sometimes reaches 52 mm. This insect cannot fly - its wings are undeveloped, but long legs allow you to run fast enough. The front legs are adapted for cleaning the antennae due to the presence of a notch with thick hairs.
Crimean ground beetle (photo of its representatives can be found in the article) has several forms that differ in color, which can be blue, purple, green or black. The light on the surface of coarse-grained wrinkled coatings is refracted, resulting in the illusion of a change in the color of the insect. Experts call this feature optical coloring. The lower part of the ground beetle is black, with a shiny metallic sheen.
Sexual demorphism is weak. Females are slightly larger, and males can be distinguished by longer antennae and extended forelegs. The life span of these insects is 10-11 years.
Habitat
Crimean ground beetle is found mainly in the south-west of the Crimean peninsula, inhabits the entire mountain zone. It lives in gardens, deciduous and mixed forests, squares and parks. You can often find it on forest paths, in fallen foliage, directly on the surface of the soil. It is interesting that nowhere, except in the Crimea, is it no longer found.
Behavior features
Crimean ground beetle is a predator, most often leading a nocturnal lifestyle. Occasionally, in search of food, it may appear during the day. Muscular long legs help to hunt for prey. With their help, the bug is also saved from enemies. In one night, an insect can cover a distance of up to 2 km. At the same time, he has to maneuver to get to the victim’s most vulnerable spot. It is very difficult to catch a ground beetle - it is so dodgy and fast.
When it is not possible to escape from the enemy with the help of legs, it releases from the abdomen a stream of caustic brown liquid with an unpleasant pungent odor. Formic acid, which is in its composition, in contact with the eyes causes severe pain and lacrimation.
Nutrition
Like most representatives of this family, Crimean ground beetle has extra-intestinal digestion. Holding the prey with the help of powerful jaws, the beetle practically absorbs it. The secret of the middle intestine poured onto the victim helps soften even the toughest tissues. Strong jaws easily destroy any chitinous cover.
The basis of ground beetles ’diet consists of caterpillars, slugs, grape snails, other beetles, and insect eggs . A predator can lurk its prey in ambush or catch it with the help of long muscular legs. Eating a snail, the beetle leaves its house intact, gnawing only the mollusk itself. Saturated, the Crimean ground beetle burrows itself into the soil for several days.
Breeding
Mating usually occurs in April. After that, the female lays eggs directly in the ground. The depth of their occurrence is approximately 30 mm. There they are from 13 to 14 days, after which larvae up to 19 mm in length and weighing about 160 mg are born. On the body they have 6 claw-shaped short legs. Initially, the larvae are white in color, but 10 hours after hatching, they turn purple-black.
From birth, they already possess powerful jaws of a predator. They feed on terrestrial mollusks, firmly clinging to them. The victim, resisting, covers the larva with mucus and foam, but the larva stubbornly fights off its legs, burrowing into the soil and deploying a shell to itself. Then it gradually penetrates into it and eats the mollusk. By the end of summer, the development of the larva is completed, it pupates and hibernates the imago. This stage lasts from 2 to 3 years.
Home Content
The insectarium must be decorated in such a way that it completely resembles a forest glade. Soddy ground is laid at its bottom along with grass, fallen leaves, moss and sand. Various stones and shards are placed here, which will serve as a shelter for the insect. As food, earthworms, slugs, cockroaches are suitable - this is what the Crimean ground beetle eats in natural conditions.
The content of the larvae is not much different from the conditions for adult beetles. The main thing is that they are separate from them. Twice a day (morning and evening), the grass should be lightly sprayed with water to maintain the necessary humidity.
Security measures
The size of this amazing insect is affected by the amount of precipitation that is directly related to the food supply in the form of terrestrial mollusks. Deforestation leads to the disappearance of the grape snail, which is the main food of ground beetle. The decrease in numbers is also affected by the cultivation of forest glades, the high sensitivity of this insect to pesticides, as well as uncontrolled catching by collectors.
Today the Crimean ground beetle is protected by law. In the Red Book, it is noted as a rare, endangered species. In the habitats of beetles, there is a ban on the use of pesticides and on the catch of insects.