Subject: Large Black smooth beetle
Geographic location of the bug: Oklahoma City
Date: 08/27/2018
Time: 11:54 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I am 41 and first time I have ever seen this beetle. Was not able to locate a match for Oklahoma or Texas. Was about an inch long. Looked like very strong pinchers and was trying to come in front door. It is mid August late morning
How you want your letter signed: Very curious
Dear Very curious,
This is a Pedunculate Ground Beetle in the genus Pasimachus, and according to BugGuide: “Large, extra-robust, flightless ground beetles (elytra fused into rigid shell). Huge jaws, head, pronotum. Some have blue margins. Typically run about under or on leaf litter in forests.” They are beneficial predators that are harmless to humans.
Also called Blue Margined Beetle (Pasimachus depressus), I found one recently in Winter Park area of Orlando, FL. Can have blue outline on its exoskeleton under the right angle of sunlight.