Description: 6-8.5mm long black ground beetle living on open damp sand or gravel, usually near the coast but also in gardens inland. Widespread but local.

NI account: Widespread but commonest in the east.

Ecology: A species of obscure ecology most often recorded, in Ireland, on sandy soils near the coast. Certainly not a common insect on high ground as was suggested by Johnson & Halbert (1902). There are records for upland peat in Antrim, but elsewhere it has been reported from such disparate sites as town gardens, wet forest litter and agricultural grassland. In Europe, it is known as an epigeal predator in winter wheat (Tolonen, 1995).

Distribution: A Eurasian Wide-temperate species (65) distributed over the whole of Europe to Asia Minor and eastern Siberia.

Similar Species: Platyderus ruficollis: front margin of pronotum produced; claws simple; elytra with 3 setiferous punctures. Olisthopus rotundatus: front margin of pronotum not produced; claws simple; palpi slender, normal; elytra with 3 setiferous punctures; body slightly metallic

Key Identification Features:

• Body medium, non-metallic brown
• Claws serrate (Fig. 72)
• Palpi swollen apically (Fig. 71)
• Elytra with 2 setiferous punctures

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

iNaturalist: Synuchus vivalis at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Synuchus vivalis | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Synuchus

Thumbnails for genus Synuchus