Calosoma

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.

Calosoma
Calosoma sycophanta
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Carabidae
Tribe:	Carabini
Genus:	Calosoma Weber, 1801
Subgenera
Callistenia Lapouge, 1929 Callisthenes Fischer von Waldheim, 1820 Callitropa Motschulsky, 1866 Calopachys Haury, 1880 Calosoma Weber, 1801 Camegonia Lapouge, 1924 Caminara Motschulsky, 1866 Campalita Motschulsky, 1866 Carabomimus Kolbe, 1895 Carabomorphus Kolbe, 1895 Carabophanus Kolbe, 1895 Carabops Jakobson, 1900 Carabosoma Géhin, 1885 Castrida Motschulsky, 1866 Charmosta Motschulsky, 1866 Chrysostigma Kirby, 1837 Ctenosta Motschulsky, 1866 Elgonorites Jeannel, 1940 Neocalosoma Breuning, 1927 Orinodromus Kolbe, 1895
Synonyms
Callisthenes

Calosoma planicolle

Calosoma senegalense

Calosoma scrutator by Alejandro Santillana "Insects Unlocked" Project, University of Texas at Austin

Calosoma has about 20 subgenera, including some former genera such as Callisthenes.

History

In 1905, Calosoma sycophanta was imported to New England for control of the spongy moth. The species is a voracious consumer of caterpillars during both its larval stage and as an adult, as are other species in the genus. For this reason, they are generally considered beneficial insects. Several species of this beetle, most notably the black calosoma (Calosoma semilaeve) are especially common in the California area.

See also

• List of Calosoma species

References

• Friedrich Weber 1801: Obs. Ent., 20; Fabricius 1801, Syst. Eleuth., 1: 211.
• Ground beetles of the genus Calosoma (Carabidae): atlas of beetles of Russia
• Detailed catalogue of ground beetles of the genus Callisthenes Fischer von Waldheim, 1821
• Powell & Hogue (1979), California Insects. p. 262.

External links

• Media related to Calosoma at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Calosoma at Wikispecies
• Ground Beetles, Susan Mahr,University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Forest Caterpillar Hunter, BioLib.cz.