European gazelle beetle

The European gazelle beetle is a dark brown ground beetle with reddish legs and feelers. It runs fast across the ground at night, hunting for tiny animals. It loves to hide in the shady leaf litter of woods.

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Fun facts
It climbs up and down grass stalks and walks over leaves to find food.
It has wings under its hard shell, but only a few of these beetles can actually fly.
It has been found everywhere from sea beaches to caves high in the mountains.
Its babies are busy hunting in winter, when many other insects are resting.
It reached America not long ago and spread so fast that scientists call it invasive.
Most asked questions about European gazelle beetle
?What does the European gazelle beetle eat?
Tiny animals like springtails, mites, small flies, spiders and earthworms.
?Is the European gazelle beetle dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people and helps eat small garden animals.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nebria brevicollis
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Carabidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Carabidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Short-collared gazelle beetle
Where the facts come from
- Nebria brevicollis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Thorben Hülsewig. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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