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Ground Beetle

There are 30,000 species of ground beetles in the United States. Most ground beetles are beneficial insects that can live in diverse habitats, from forests to grasslands. Depending on species, adults can be as small as a tenth of an inch and as large as 1 inch. Beetles are mostly shiny black or a reflective metallic. They have ridged covers over their wings. Some ground beetle species are unable to fly due to these wing covers being merged together. As the name implies, ground beetles are mostly ground-dwelling insects and often hide underneath objects during the day. They hunt other insects at night. Eggs are laid individually along the soil surface. Larvae emerge from the eggs. To pupate, larvae bury themselves in the soil. Adults return to the soil surface as beetles. Each day, mature beetles can eat their body weight in other ground-dwelling insects.