Description: A small (4-5mm) bronze ground beetle with very prominent eyes. This species was recently split as A. flavipes sensu stricto from A. curtum. The status of A. flavipes s.s. in Ireland is uncertain but it is likely to be much the rarer of the two segregate species.

NI account: Older Irish records of A. flavipes sensu lato refer almost entirely to A. curtum. The only published record of A. flavipes sensu stricto is that of Speight (1986) for Killarney, Kerry.

Ecology: Has a rather similar ecology to that of A. curtum but is of much more restricted distribution in Britain and Ireland. It has been described as more hygrophilous than A. curtum (Speight, 1986) and is reported from damp localities near water (Luff, 1998).

Distribution: The distribution of A. flavipes sensu stricto is uncertain due to conflation with closely related species but it is probably widely distributed across north and central Europe. In the sense of the aggregate species a Eurosiberian Wide-temperate (63) distribution applies.

Similar Species: Asaphidion curtum: differences subtle; angle at lateral setae on pronotum fairly sharp (Fig. 38); legs uniformly pale

Key Identification Features:

• Small (3-4.5mm)
• Eyes large, prominent
• Last segment of palpi tiny
• Elytra irregularly punctate and pubescent
• Head wider than pronotum
• Angle at lateral setae more rounded (Fig. 39)
• Legs with femoro-tibial joint darkened, sometimes metallic

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

iNaturalist: Asaphidion flavipes at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Asaphidion flavipes | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Asaphidion

Thumbnails for genus Asaphidion