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Big black beetle
October 13, 2009
Saw this big black beetle in September 2009 crawling in the leaf litter of the forest floor just north of Mendocino, California. It was approximately 1.75 inches long from the tip of its head to the rear of its carapace. When I discovered it and started taking photos, it didn’t scurry away; it slowly and methodically crawled away and hid under forest floor detritus.
Thanks for any help info you may have,
Mendocino California

Snail Eater

This is some species of Snail Eater, a Ground Beetle in the genus Scaphinotus.  We don’t feel qualified to take the identification to the species level with the information provided on BugGuide, especially since some species are represented by a single photograph from California.  We might suggest that you also submit  your photo to bugGuide in the hopes that you can get a species identification.

Update from Eric Eaton
Daniel:
I’d need to see the specimen of the snail-eater to key it out to species….
Eric

Related Posts

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2. Snail Eating Ground Beetle (June 14, 2007)
3. Snail Parasite Fly (December 5, 2008)
4. Female California Root Borer (July 24, 2009)
5. Belzebul Bee Eater (August 7, 2009)