Ground Beetles of Ireland
Panagaeus cruxmajor
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 © Roy Anderson |
 © Roy Anderson |
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Panagaeus cruxmajor (Linnaeus, 1758)
Description: A spectacular (7.5-9mm), hairy black ground beetle with a conspicuous red cross on the elytra. Very hygrophilous, occurring at the margins of standing or slow-flowing water amongst rich vegetation. Local and rare.
World Distribution: Has a Eurasian Wide-temperate distribution (65) but is predominantly southern and eastern in Europe, north to the southern British Isles and southern Fennoscandia. Also in north Africa, Asia Minor and Siberia east to the Amur.
Irish Status: There are a number of modern Irish records for this rare species ranging from Askeaton in Co Limerick (Alan Brown) north to Toormakeady, Lough Mask (John Owen) and east to Edenmore Bog Co. Longford (Brian Seery). Older records for Corofin and Finlough, Clare and for Menlough and Portumna, Galway are given by Speight et al. (1983). While it has declined in Britain and northern parts of its European range in recent decades, the range in Ireland seems stable.
Ecology: Hygrophilous on the well-vegetated, muddy margins of lakes and rivers. In Ireland, muddy turloughs are also occupied.