A few shiny beetles

Amici Con Coleotteri

Amici Con Coleotteri

Cerambycidae
I've collected 5 of these little gems...at least some are Pterostichus? The colors are amazing (the camera really failed at capturing it correctly).

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This one's a bit blurry but the guy on the left was hard to photograph and this was the only shot that he didn't run out of mid click. Check out those colors!!!
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Can anyone identify them more precisely?

 
I know! I want so many more!
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They are so fast and get away when you're not looking for them...I keep finding them on the sidewalk, when I'm NOT hunting and fumble through my pockets for a test tube while they run and hide.

 
Yeah these are all ground beetles, and you are very lucky! You caught a chaelenius tricolor ( the one on the last pic, the far left beetle.)I had some for a few years, they are really cool, and really fast! They only eat dead or dying insects. Also you caught a harpalus affinis, ( on the second pic, the middle beetle.) I find tons of these out here. The top beetle I have no idea what it is, but it is beautiful! And the beetle on the second pic on the right is a pterostichus sp. Lots of the ground beetles I find around here are an iridescent copper color. Tell us if you find anymore!
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Hisserdude said:
Yeah these are all ground beetles, and you are very lucky! You caught a chaelenius tricolor ( the one on the last pic, the far left beetle.)I had some for a few years, they are really cool, and really fast! They only eat dead or dying insects. Also you caught a harpalus affinis, ( on the second pic, the middle beetle.) I find tons of these out here. The top beetle I have no idea what it is, but it is beautiful! And the beetle on the second pic on the right is a pterostichus sp. Lots of the ground beetles I find around here are an iridescent copper color. Tell us if you find anymore!
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Oh man! What a huuuuuge help that was!!!

Went out today and was turning them up all over...caught another C. tricolor (definitely the hardest to catch if you find them).

Do they ALL eat dead insects? (I raise crickets too
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) Do you advise I keep them all separate?

 
They all will eat dead insects. And all but the chleanius tricolor will eat live insects. Also, if you feed them live insects, they need to be a little smaller than the beetles eating them. Hope this helps.

 
Hisserdude said:
They all will eat dead insects. And all but the chleanius tricolor will eat live insects. Also, if you feed them live insects, they need to be a little smaller than the beetles eating them. Hope this helps.
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Immensely! I always used to catch these like "ooo pretty bug" and let them die...NEVER considered raising them. Can they be bred? I'm like head over heels for them!
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Ground beetles are notoriously hard to breed. The larva are very fragile, ( at least in my experience ) they need dead insects to eat, and they like them crushed or immobilized. They dry out fast, so they need to be kept quite moist. I tried to rear larva last year and got only one pupa, which died a few days later for no apparent reason. And just so you know, most ground beetles can feed on dog/cat food, instead of insects. Chleanius tricolor prefers dead insects to dog food. Hope this helps.
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One of the few spots by me that's rather undisturbed (aside from partying teens). Spent the day up turning leaves with as much patience as I could muster.
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most ground beetles do not care for their young, and will eat the eggs and larva. you should remove all eggs or larva you find. you should also remove the dead crickets in a day or two, rotting crickets do not smell good, lol. hope this helps!
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The top beetle is poecilus lucublandus. Just looked on bugguide for a few minutes and saw a pic of this beetle and I knew it was the beetle you're keeping. Hope this helps!

 
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