Description: A 4-4.5mm brownish-black ground beetle found under leaves and in moss in shaded places, usually old acid woods on or near peat.

NI account: Widespread but local.

Ecology: More hygrophilous than the other species of Bradycellus. A silvicolous species which is mainly recorded from woodland abutting acid heath or where drainage of lowland raised bog by agricultural improvement or turf-cutting has allowed birch seedlings to become established to form oligotrophic, acid woodland.

Distribution: An Oceanic temperate species (71) with a very limited range comprising the British Isles, Belgium, the southern Netherlands and northern France.

Similar Species: Bradycellus verbasci: upper surface reddish-yellow; wings full (B. distinctus: pronotum with fine puncturation at anterior margin - absent or much reduced in sharpi; elytra lacking a setiferous puncture - one is present in sharpi and verbasci)

Key Identification Features:

• Small (4-4.5mm), convex and short-legged
• Upper surface glabrous
• Mentum with tooth
• Pronotum with rounded but well-defined hind angles (Fig. 91), as verbasci
• Upper surface dark, brown
• Wings much reduced

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

iNaturalist: Bradycellus sharpi at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Bradycellus sharpi | Classification: Insecta, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Bradycellus

Thumbnails for genus Bradycellus