Description: A large (15-20mm) shiny black ground beetle similar to to P. aethiops but with either black or red legs (form concinnus Sturm). Lives under stones, loose bark and grass tussocks in a variety of open and shaded habitats to peatlands at moderate elevations.

NI account: Widespread and fairly common.

Ecology: A eurytopic and fairly large, black Pterostichus found on lowland pasture, traditional hay meadows, drier woodlands and drier kinds of dwarf shrub heath. On the Continent, it is widely reported from arable soils (Eckel, 1990) and was the most abundant carabid in a pitfall survey of Corsican pine plantations in the sandy Norfolk brecks (Doberski & Lyle, 1997). In Ireland it is also locally common on drier hill land and in conifer plantations.

Distribution: A Suboceanic temperate species (72), restricted to the British Isles, France, Holland, western Germany and (?) Spain.

Similar Species: Pterostichus aethiops: elytra with 3 inter-strial punctures; elytral intervals convex; femora black P. aterrimus: glossy; elytra punctures foveate

Key Identification Features:

• Large species, black
• Pronotum with hind angles completely rounded
• Elytra with 1, exceptionally 2, non-foveate inter-strial punctures
• Elytral intervals nearly flat
• Femora red or black

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

iNaturalist: Pterostichus madidus at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Pterostichus madidus | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Pterostichus

Thumbnails for genus Pterostichus