Shiny black, like patent leather shoes, with an impressive purple edging. A Ground Beetle with no common name, but a scientific name of Carabus serratus. Ground Beetles are a large family of beetles, Carabidae, with around 2,000 species in North America.

Ground Beetles eat slugs, snails, worms, and insects in all stages of growth. All of these eaten either live or dead.

I’ve encountered a Carabus serratus several times over the years during my hikes up here on my mountain. Each time I’ve been able to return home with more photographs of the black and purple insect.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!