Description: 6-7.5mm long black ground beetle living under stones and among litter etc in moist meadows and also beside freshwater. Widespread.

NI account: Widespread and fairly common.

Ecology: Fairly hygrophilous, but one of the more eurytopic black Pterostichus, not confined to wetlands in our area. Occupies a wide range of habitats including montane blanket peat, lakeshores, fens, pastures and agricultural land, hiding under stones or in moss and grass litter during the day.

Distribution: With a Eurasian Wide-temperate distribution (65), and found across the whole of Europe except northern Fennoscandia, and Siberia east as far as the River Lena.

Similar Species: Pterostichus strenuus/diligens: pronotum different (Fig. 65), with more acute hind angles; tarsi not furrowed; short scutellar striae present

Key Identification Features:

• Medium, dark species
• Pronotum characteristic (Fig. 66)
• Tarsi furrowed
• Scutellar striae absent

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

iNaturalist: Pterostichus vernalis at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

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

Thumbnails for genus Pterostichus