Japanese Ground Beetle vs Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Japanese Ground Beetle Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle
Scientific Name Carabus insulicola Dendroxena quadrimaculata
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Carabidae Silphidae
Size 22-30 mm 12-16 mm
Habitat Forests Grasslands
Diet Omnivores Predators
Regions Japan Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Japanese Ground Beetle

A large, dark beetle with coppery-bronze elytra found in Japanese mountain forests. It is flightless and shows considerable variation between island populations.

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Did You Know?

Isolated populations on different Japanese islands have diverged into distinct colour forms, making them popular among collectors.

Four-Spotted Carrion Beetle

A yellowish-brown beetle with four dark spots on its elytra, unusual for a silphid because it hunts in trees rather than on the ground. It climbs trunks searching for caterpillars.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the only carrion beetles that has abandoned carrion feeding entirely, becoming an arboreal caterpillar predator.