Ground Beetles of Ireland
Broscus cephalotes
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 © Roy Anderson |
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Broscus cephalotes (Linnaeus, 1758)
Description: Large (16-23mm) dull black ground beetle which burrows under stones and driftwood, preying on supralittoral amphipods and isopods. On the seaward edge of sand dunes around the coast.
World Distribution: A Eurosiberian Wide-temperate species (64) found across west and central Europe to western Siberia. Recently reported as an introduction to the eastern seaboard of the United States (Larochelle, 1989).
Irish Status: Widely distributed and common along sandy sea coasts.
Ecology: A strongly thermoxerophilic species favouring loose, dry sand and confined to coastal habitats in Ireland, although it also occurs inland in Europe. Mostly recorded from bare sand between the strandline and the front of fore dunes on sandy coasts, more rarely on sparsely vegetated fore dunes.