Brachinus sp.?

[Amici Con Coleotteri]

Found a pair of these last weekend but only could catch the one...didn't want to find out the hard way that it WAS a bombardier lol.

 

[wizentrop]

Oh, one of my favorite North American carabids!

This is not a true bombardier beetle, but the species Galerita bicolor, a bombardier-mimic (or false bombardier beetle). They have awesome predatory larvae with impressive long cerci (tails), longer than the body length!

 

[Amici Con Coleotteri]

Awesome! Thanks wizentrop! Any idea what they eat?

 

[wizentrop]

They are predators of small arthropods - springtails, silverfish, bristletails, various larvae. Anything that is soft-bodied.

 

[Amici Con Coleotteri]

Cool thanks!!!

 

[Peter Clausen]

You often find bombardiers in the same place you find these. Looking under the rocks near streams during the day (or by the stream itself by night) can turn up thousands of them.

 

[Hisserdude]

Awesome! you have lots of ground beetles in your area!