A new brown beetle for the books?
This must be quite a rare New Zealand beetle. As yet it has not been identified from available beetle books.
Until an accurate name is found the term ‘‘brown ground beetle’’ would seem to be appropriate.
It’s about the same size as the common black ground beetle and was living in the same kind of habitat, damp ground under decaying wood and debris.
There are at least 350,500 species of beetles that have been identified so far world wide.
They are the largest group of insects and their numbers continue to grow, with scientists estimating that there could be at least another 300,000 yet to be discovered and named.
In New Zealand we have our share of beetles.
Nearly 5000 have been named with many more still to be identified in our forests. Maybe, today’s beetle is one of these.
Notice the distinct beetle body parts. There’s a head, a distinct thorax and a large brown and black stripped abdomen. The six legs come from the thorax. Beaded antennae protrude from the head.
In an experiment to try and establish what this beetle would feed on it was kept in a container without food for several days and then a piece of bacon was placed in the container. The reaction was immediate.
The beetle’s antennae began to wave as if sensing a smell and it quickly moved to the bacon, grasped it with its powerful jaws and started to eat.
This beetle is obviously a carnivore and in the wild, would feed on the likes of grubs and other insect larvae. Probably a helpful garden beetle.