Oregon beetle, what is it?
Hi,
I live in Eugene, Oregon and on a recent trip to the coast we were hiking in a mixed (mostly pine) rain-forest on the western side of the coast range we kept seeing these long-legged black beetles with a vivid purple edging around the body. I am curious what these are and whether they are native or invasive. … I’d really appreciate some help identifying this as I can’t find one that looks like it online anywhere. Thanks,
Brian Jones
PS- My picture shows as copyrighted on the page, but please feel free to post it on your site or wherever you’d like
Hi Brian,
We thought this ground beetle resembled the Narrow Searcher, Calosoma externum, pictured on BugGuide, but that is an eastern species. We requested Eric Eaton’s assistance and he wrote back: ” Daniel: Sorry, you are way off. This is a specimen of Scaphinotus angusticollis, one of the snail-eating beetles. Very common. The protruding jaws, narrow ‘neck,’ and long, gangly legs help set the genus apart from most other ground beetles (family Carabidae). Eric “