Forest caterpillar hunter

Description

Calosoma sycophanta, the forest caterpillar hunter, is a species of ground beetle belonging to the family Carabidae. Calosoma sycophanta can reach a length of about 21–35 millimetres (0.83–1.38 in). This large ground beetle has characteristic metallic bright green elytra, while scutellum is metallic bluish. The head is black. These colors have iridescent shades that change (green, blue, bronze, copper, gold black) according to the direction and quality of light. Pronotum is transverse shaped, posteriorly sharply narrowed, wrinkled and punctured. Elytra are flattened with clearly visible punctures in the striae. This species is native to Europe. It is present in most European countries, in the eastern Palearctic realm, in the Nearctic realm, in the Near East, and in North Africa. In 1905 it was imported to New England for control of the gypsy moth. This ground beetle is a voracious consumer of caterpillars (especially Lymantria dispar, Thaumetopoea processionea, Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Euproctis chrysorrhoea) during both its larval stage and as an adult. As a predator the species has been researched for the effect of its predation upon the caterpillars with microsporidian pathogens, finding a preference for Vairimorpha disparis infected larva. Calosoma is a genus of large ground beetles that occur primarily throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and are referred to as caterpillar hunters or caterpillar searchers. Many of the 167 species are largely or entirely black, but some have bright metallic coloration. They produce a foul-smelling spray from glands near the tip of the abdomen. They are recognizable due to their large thorax, which is almost the size of their abdomen and much wider than their head.