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TYPICAL GROUND BEETLES

CARABIDAE: HARPALINAE

CARABIDAE: HARPALINAE

subfamily

Harpalinae

known species

19,000

distribution

Worldwide except Antarctica, especially

in the tropics, but also reaching into the

Arctic Circle

habitat

Almost every habitat, from subterranean

caves to the forest canopy

size

2–100 mm

diet

Almost all predators, though there are a few

subgroups that are mainly seed feeders

notes

Some Harpalinae, for example in the tribe

Lebiini, are parasitic as larvae, an unusual

habit among beetles. In southern Africa,

especially in the Kalahari Desert, the

harpaline genus Lebistina is an ectoparasite

T

he huge and diverse subfamily Harpalinae

accounts for almost half of the family

Carabidae. Most people’s view of a “typical beetle”

is probably one of these. The subfamily shows

some of the widest ranges of habits and habitats

of any beetle group, but with a strong tendency

toward predation. Some species are specific

predators, attacking, for example, mainly snails,

worms, or particular caterpillars, while others

are generalists and will eat anything they can

overpower. In northern Europe and North

America, members of the genera Pterostichus and

Abax, large, black typical ground beetles may

exist in enormous numbers on agricultural land,

and some farmers will set aside small areas of

uncultivated land along their crops as “beetle

banks” to encourage these voracious and generalist

predators to control slugs, snails, and larvae of pest

insects in crops.

While most Harpalinae are beneficial, a few

species are less welcome in crop fields—for example,

the Strawberry Beetle (Harpalus rufipes) can be a

pest of soft fruit by eating the achenes (external

seeds) from growing strawberries, spoiling their

left | Craspedophorus

(tribe Panagaeini)

A large nocturnal

predator from

Thailand. Many

Carabidae are black

with four distinctive

red or orange spots.

opposite above |

Mormolyce phyllodes

(tribe Lebiini)

A Guitar or Violin

Beetle from Southeast

Asia. The largest

Harpalinae, at 4 in

(10 cm), it lives among

giant fungi.