Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle vs Golden Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle Golden Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Passalus unicornis Carabus auratus
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Passalidae Carabidae
Size 30-45 mm 20-30 mm
Habitat Woodlands Farmland
Diet Wood Feeders Predators
Regions Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, DRC, Congo) Western Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle

A large, flattened bess beetle with a shiny black body and a small horn on the head. Adults and larvae live together in rotting logs in a subsocial arrangement. Adults produce sounds by rubbing their hindwings against the abdomen.

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Did You Know?

Parents feed their larvae pre-chewed wood and communicate with them using stridulatory sounds, one of the few examples of parental care in beetles.

Golden Ground Beetle

A large, brilliant metallic green or golden ground beetle with ridged elytra. It is a voracious predator of slugs and caterpillars.

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Did You Know?

French farmers historically valued it so highly that killing one was considered bad luck.