Bug FAQCarabus auronitens
Carabus auronitens · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
Carabus auronitens is a ground beetle that measures 18 to 32 mm in length and shows a shiny mix of red-gold, red-green or occasionally blue colours on its elytra and head. It lives under loose bark, in dead wood or bogs up to 2,500 m in mountains and is active as an adult from May to September, hunting snails, worms and other insects at night. The species occurs across central, eastern and western Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s head and wing covers are glossy and can be red-gold, red-green or rarely blue. Each wing cover has a granular texture with three strong dark longitudinal veins. Antennae are black, but the first segments are red.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults grow to 18 to 32 mm (0.71 to 1.26 in) long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found under loose bark, in dead wood, and in mountain bogs up to 2,500 ft.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults are nocturnal predators of smaller animals such as snails, worms and insects.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults appear from May through September. Larvae climb trees up to about 7 m and pupate after three molts.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are present from May to September.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to central, eastern and western Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be told apart from the similar Carabus auratus by its dark longitudinal veins and by having only the first antenna segment red, whereas C. auratus has green-gold veins and the first four antenna segments red.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell Carabus auronitens apart from similar beetles?
Look for three dark longitudinal veins on each wing cover and note that only the first antenna segment is red; Carabus auratus has green-gold veins and four red antenna segments.
Source: Wikipedia
When are adult Carabus auronitens active?
Adults are active from May through September.
Source: Wikipedia
What does Carabus auronitens eat?
It hunts smaller animals such as snails, worms and insects at night.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabus_auronitens
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.