Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden – Ground Beetle
  • October 2, 2018
  • Posted by: Mike McQueen, Charles Ray, and Kerry Smith
  • in Lawn & Garden
Ground Beetle
Ground Beetle

*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.

Aliases: fiery hunter, snail eater, carabid

Wanted For: Conspiring to eat many soil-dwelling pests such as slugs, snails, cutworms, and root maggots.

Family History: Fast-moving predator, armed with strong jaws. Generally dark brown or black with long legs, and shiny, hard front wing covers that sometimes have a metallic sheen. Usually hunts at night. Reported to be able to consume its body weight in food each day. Larvae also feed on soil insects.

Sightings: Usually sighted hiding in soil or under rocks, dried leaves, and mulch.

Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University

Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283

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