Description: Small (3.5-4.5mm) bronze-black ground beetle living in silty mud and vegetation on river margins throughout.

NI account: One of the commonest Bembidion in Ireland. Characteristic of water-margin habitats, particularly riverbanks, throughout. Localised in Britain mainly to the midlands and north-east of England (Luff, 1998).

Ecology: Eurytopic and not restricted to coastal habitats in the British Isles, unlike other parts of its north-west European range. Recorded widely in clayey farmland, waste places and wetlands, including riverbanks, lakeshores and marshes well inland. Often seen on bare agricultural soil with B. lampros and B. bruxellense, or on riverbanks with other members of Subgenus Philochthus.

Distribution: This is a Eurasian species with a highly disjunct distribution. Within Europe there are two distinct ranges, one in the coastal countries of the north-west, the other lying in the south-east between Romania and the Caspian Sea. It also occurs in central Asia. We classify it overall as Eurasian Wide-temperate (65).

Similar Species: Bembidion guttula: smaller (2.8-3.5mm); subapical elytral spot distinct; pronotum shiny; base of antennae, legs partly, rufous; basal sinuation on pronotum shallow (Fig. 52) B. mannerheimi: as guttula but legs paler and pronotum different (Fig. 45)

Key Identification Features:

• Small (3.5-4.5mm)
• Terminal segment of palpi much reduced (Fig. 31)
• Pronotum deeply sinuate at base (Fig. 51)
• Subapical spot on elytra indistinct or absent
• Pronotum dull from microreticulation
• Legs and antennae brown

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

iNaturalist: Bembidion aeneum at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Bembidion aeneum | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Bembidion

Thumbnails for genus Bembidion