Ground Beetles of Ireland
Calosoma inquisitor
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 © Roy Anderson |
 © Roy Anderson |
 W. W. Fowler |
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Calosoma inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758)
Description: A large (16-22mm) bronze arboreal 'ground' beetle of oak woodland. Feeds on caterpillars in oak canopy, particularly on geometrids. Lives under loose bark and in cracks in bark and aestivates in deep subterranean earth cells. Has suffered greatly from the loss of mature oak woodland in Ireland. Presumed extinct.
World Distribution: A Eurasian Wide-temperate species (65) distributed across Europe to Asia Minor, Iran and the Caucasus, with isolated populations in eastern Siberia and Japan.
Irish Status: The only confirmed Irish records are for Powerscourt Demesne, Wicklow where it was seen in 1839 and in 1856 (Johnson & Halbert, 1902). There have been no subsequent records and the habitat is now damaged by inappropriate forest management (Speight et al., 1983).
Ecology: An oligophagous species of oak forest, feeding primarily on a few species of Geometridae and Tortricidae (Lepidoptera). It has evidently suffered with the destruction of the native Irish forests and is presumed extinct.