Arctic Ground Beetle vs Arctic Thrips

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute	Arctic Ground Beetle	Arctic Thrips
Scientific Name	Amara alpina	Aptinothrips rufus
Order	Coleoptera	Thysanoptera
Family	Carabidae	Thripidae
Size	5-8 mm	0.5-1.5 mm
Habitat	Tundra & Arctic	Tundra & Arctic
Diet	Herbivores	Sap Feeders
Regions	Arctic Scandinavia, northern Russia, Siberia, Arctic Canada, Greenland	Arctic and subarctic worldwide, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, northern Canada
Conservation	Least Concern	Least Concern

Arctic Ground Beetle

A small, dark bronze ground beetle found on Arctic and alpine tundra. It has a broad, flattened body ideal for sheltering under stones. Adults are active during the brief Arctic summer and are partially herbivorous.

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Did You Know?

This beetle has been found in Quaternary fossil deposits across northern Europe, showing it has inhabited the tundra since the last Ice Age.

Arctic Thrips

A tiny, wingless thrips that feeds on grasses in Arctic and subarctic habitats. Its brown body is barely visible without magnification. Populations reproduce parthenogenetically in the Arctic where males are absent.

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Did You Know?

This thrips can reproduce without males through parthenogenesis, a useful adaptation in Arctic habitats where finding a mate would be difficult.