Spanish Copperhead Ground Beetle vs Glacier Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Spanish Copperhead Ground Beetle Glacier Beetle
Scientific Name Carabus macrocephalus Nebria castanea
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Carabidae Carabidae
Size 22-32 mm 9-13 mm
Habitat Mountains Farmland
Diet Predators Omnivores
Regions Spain and Portugal (Iberian Peninsula) Alps, Central Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Spanish Copperhead Ground Beetle

A large Iberian ground beetle with a distinctly oversized head and copper to bronze-colored elytra with deep sculptured ridges. It is endemic to the mountains of Spain and Portugal.

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Did You Know?

Its exceptionally large head houses powerful mandible muscles, thought to be an adaptation for crushing the shells of mountain snails.

Glacier Beetle

A chestnut-brown ground beetle inhabiting the edges of glaciers and permanent snowfields. It feeds on wind-blown insects deposited on ice surfaces.

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Did You Know?

It is one of the few beetles that actively forages on glacier ice surfaces.