Carabidae: Genus Scaphinotus

Genus Scaphinotus Dejean 1826

Carabidae, Coleoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia

Matthew Denton, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA 98505 USA.

01 April 1997


|Key to spp. | species list | genus key|

Identification

Head and mouthparts long and slender with spoon like terminary palpomeres of both maxillae and labium; labrum deeply emarginate with six setae; dorsal surface of tarsi ± pubescent; proepimera separated from episterna by a suture; elytra very broad; protarsi of the male dilated, except in S. angulatus.

Range

North America and Mexico.

Natural History

About 60 species have been described; many species have limited distribution and exhibit subspeciation. Feed on snails, slugs and other foraged prey.

Scaphinotus key

10a Elytra each with 18 regular, punctate striae, which are shallow but evident at least in basal half. S. angusticollis

10b Elytra each with about 13-16 striae, sometimes irregular and difficult to count. 20

20a Frons with strong longitudinal keel; prothorax very convex, shiny, sides angulate in anterior half. S.angulatus

20b Frons smooth; prothorax flat, quite dull, sides evenly rounded in anterior half. S. marginatus


References

Kavanaugh, D. H. 1992. Carabid beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences Number 16. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA.

Lindroth, C. H. 1961-1969. The ground beetles (Carabidae excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Parts 1-6. Opuscula Entomologica xlviii + 1192 pp.


For information about this page: John T. Longino longinoj@evergreen.edu

Last modified: 04/01/1997