Description: Large (18-30mm) black ground beetle with metallic purple or blue elytral and pronotal margins. A woodland species but very local at lower altitudes and found mainly in overgrown montane dwarf shrub heaths.

NI account: Widespread and frequent in hill areas throughout.

Ecology: Primarily associated with Calluna heath or forest ecotopes in upland areas. There are few records for land below the 200m contour and these are mainly for the west.

Distribution: A European Boreo-temperate species (53), widespread in central, west and northern Europe to just beyond the Arctic Circle. Introduced in North America.

Similar Species: Carabus violaceus: elytral sculpture similar but much finer and more superficial, no trace of linear rows of granulae; surface dull; body slender, parallel-sided

Key Identification Features:

• Very large, with sculptured elytra and metallic reflections
• Elytral sculpture irregularly granulate, the granules arranged in multiple, weak, irregular lines but without trace of three main ridges
• Surface shiny, black with reddish- or violaceous-metallic reflections along margins
• Broad and moderately convex

Distribution Map from NBN: Carabus problematicus at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Carabus problematicus at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Carabus problematicus | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Carabus

Thumbnails for genus Carabus