Broscus cephalotes
| Broscus cephalotes | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Carabidae |
| Genus: | Broscus |
| Species: | B. cephalotes |
| Binomial name | |
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Broscus cephalotes (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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Broscus cephalotes is a species of nocturnal, coastal ground beetle found throughout most of Europe. Its habitat in Europe spans from western Europe into western Siberia. The species was introduced recently (circa 1975) in the eastern areas of Canada. The beetle has since spread farther south and west into the United States. The Carabidae family, of which Broscus cephalotes is a part, is generally considered as a family that is beneficial to humans due to their predatory habits. Their varied diet often includes crop pests and other small organisms.
Broscus cephalotes has a dull black coloration, without any metallic hue that is common in many beetles, and it can be quite large, anywhere from 16 to 23 mm. The morphology of the beetle is generally the same as the morphology for other beetles in its family. As ground beetles that are often found in smaller spaces (e.g. crevices under stones or under bark), the B. cephalotes has a narrower width than others in its family and is less thick. This is a flightless beetle. The shape of the body and presence or absence of the ability of flight can provide an idea of the food consumed by the beetle, but this is not conclusive and requires further study before any reliable predictions can be made. The mouthparts are a more reliable indicator of the type of food consumed by the beetle, though the best method of determining the diet of a beetle is gut dissection. The asymmetric mouthpart mandibles of the B. cephalotes are blunt and long; the length is almost double their width. The mandibles are curved to a rounded point at the end. The left mandible is slightly larger than the right mandible, both in width and in length, though the difference in length is much more noticeable. These mandibles are multi-purpose tools. The beetle uses them to create and maintain the subterranean tunnels in which they spend most of their lives. The opened mandibles can act as shovels or pull the dirt and debris from the walls of already dug tunnel. The dirt and debris are deposited outside the burrow. Additionally, the mandibles can act as shovels in the loose sand of the beetles’ coastal environment. The more obvious use of the mandibles is in feeding, as discussed below.
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Wikipedia